


The Seed

by apollostrials



Series: On New Wings [1]
Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018) RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Gen, Madam Spellman - Freeform, Season 2, ahh these two are so cute imma cry, caos, eventual lesbian sex, it's cause I'm a water sign and I don't know how to write without a lot of feelings, mature rating, mentions of abuse, mentions of assault, slow burn madam spellman, so much emotions actually, very zelda centric, zilith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 03:00:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18540934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apollostrials/pseuds/apollostrials
Summary: "What do we do now?"There was no solid answer to the question Hilda proposed to Zelda the day after their world collapsed.The only thing they could do, the only thing Zelda was certain of, was that they needed to rebuild. Regroup. So much could go wrong and yet everything was possible with this clean slate.Perhaps it had always been time for a new beginning. So Zelda would give to others as well as herself.





	1. Eden

_"Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." -Gen 3: 5_

 

__________

 

Zelda dreamt of a garden.

 

It was massive, expansive, with a beauty that could only come from a dream. There was a breeze, and she was dressed in nothing more than a pale slip, but it was not cold, nor was she uncomfortable. Plants rose to greet her, the sun gleamed through the glade bathing everything in soft yellow light. A deer looked her way and did not engage. Zelda realized she never wanted to leave.

 

She walked where her heart felt was right, one foot in front of the other, sinking in the soil below her. When she came upon the only corrosive thing in the garden, she knew she had reached her destination.

 

The tree was grey, with gnarled branches which resembled claws. Desecrated fruit littered the base of it, half eaten from maggots. A dark blot in an otherwise bright world.

 

"There's beauty in this too, sweet Zelda. Though it seems unlikely." Then there was Lilith, materializing beside her seemingly out of nowhere dressed in robes of white and gold as if she were an angel, though Zelda knew the truth. Had she been with her this entire time? Perhaps she had been the one guiding her all along.

 

"Lilith." Zelda's voice was softer than she remembered it ever being, and she bowed her obeisance, though Lilith did not allow it for long.

 

"Rise my child, and restore the tree to its beauty." The witch rose from the ground, and though she was uncertain, she walked towards the tree. The air daunted her but she did not stop, her goddess behind her pushing her through her fear. Zelda stretched her hands to the trunk, feeling the magic emanating from it. She concentrated on her own power, pushing it to the very core of the wood. It rejuvenated her, realizing she had control to give life to something that had been dead for longer than her entire lifetime.

 

The bark became amber under her fingertips, the flora returning with a vengeance in vibrant lilac and blush, even the fruit from the ground returned to their perch, unaltered. Zelda was tempted to take some of it for herself.

 

"You can eat of it, I will not keep it from you." Lilith offered the witch an encouraging nod, so Zelda reached, having to go on the tips of her toes to grab the low hanging fruit. It fit in her palm like an apple, but when she took an anticipatory bite the taste that flooded her mouth was of pomegranate. She gave Lilith a curious look who only returned with one of her own.

 

"What does it taste like to you?" Zelda wiped what felt like pomegranate juice from her mouth, and admired how the stain of red conflicted with her skin.

 

"Like the best pomegranate, I have ever tasted." Lilith smiled slightly, impressed even at the revelation.

 

"Well then, sweet Zelda, I suppose you know what you must do."

 

-

Zelda awoke to what felt like a caress on her cheek, but upon observation, she saw there was no one but her and Hilda in the room-the latter who was snoring rather loudly. But Zelda could not have been closer to peace.

 

For weeks she had prayed for a sign from Lilith, for weeks had she been silent. Zelda thought that perhaps she was asking the wrong questions, that Lilith found her weak as she woke petrified from nightmares every morning. But last night, in that beautiful garden, Lilith had chosen her-and had shown her the strength she forgot she had.

 

It did not mean she would never have nightmares, or that her panic would disperse itself like birds when the chill of September hit in Greendale. All it meant was that she was capable, and as Lilith said, understanding of what needed to be done.

 

So like the tree in the garden, with its fruit of unending knowledge that she had the privilege to taste-if only in a dream, she would rebuild the church and the academy. She would give the wayward witches and warlocks a new home, not under the oppression of a deity but instead, under the guidance of nurture and free-will.

 

Yes, she would start there and hoped it would be pleasing to Lilith.

 

It was still early, the dawn barely breaking on the horizon from what Zelda could decipher from her window. There were many children to feed and so she figured it was best to get started. No other adults had survived, at least none as old as Hilda or herself. Many of the remaining were self-sufficient, but they still looked to the Spellman sisters for guidance, not only as heads of the academy but as mothers. It was a terrifying thought. But every day they got through it, no matter the challenges.

 

"Zelda? You should've woken me. You're cracking the eggs all wrong."

 

"No shells are in the bowl, I don't think I am cracking them wrong." Hilda gave her an unamused glare, never the morning person between the two of them. Her short blonde hair was tousled, and her eyes bleary with sleep. "Were you wrestling with a demon in your sleep? You look awful." Zelda jokes. Hilda moved her away from the bowl, taking over the egg duties with swift and expert hands.

 

"Toast some of the bread I made yesterday, please? And careful not to burn it." Zelda followed Hilda's directions, if only because toasting bread was an easy job. She contently sliced the two loaves in thin, flat planes. Placing them carefully on the baking sheet she would set in the oven for a short time. The smell of coffee grinds brewing expanded through the house, and the sizzle of eggs in the pans added to the serenity of the morning.

 

"You didn't have a nightmare last night." Hilda began with certainty in her voice. "Did she come and visit you?" Zelda gently placed the pan in the oven, closing it gingerly as to not arouse the children who were only a room away.

 

"Yes." She answered. "I saw her, and she was beautiful. More than beautiful really..."

 

"Angelic?" Hilda offered.

 

"She showed me the garden and I ate from the tree. Now it is time to rebuild the church, one in her image."

 

"Zelda, are you sure?" Hilda rested her hand on her older sister's arm gently, and Zelda placed her hand over Hilda's in the same fashion.

 

"The time for being afraid is over now, I am sure. She gave me her blessing, and these children need a proper home. A new purpose." The timer for the bread beeped and the eggs were finished with the coffee. Hilda had many pastries set aside and of course, there was an assortment of other fares to be had. It was time to wake everyone up.

 

"Well then sister, let's pass out breakfast and discuss our plan.


	2. Temple

_"That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto prayer which thy servant shall make towards this place."_

_1 Kings 8: 29._

 

__________

 

Zelda and Hilda had discussed, ad nauseam, the preparations for both the church and the academy. The main agreement was that they would be combined as there were so little of them left. Lilith had made it clear through her signals that learning, not worship would be the main focus. So the place of worship would be humble. Though she had not corresponded with Zelda since her dream.

 

Patience was a virtue, and Zelda planned to be so. She could not ignore how lost she felt whenever she looked for an answer that Lilith was not willing to give her. Zelda only wanted to go about things the right way. So she sat in what would be her office once things were finished, and she prayed on her knees, hands clasped together.

 

"Dark Mother," Her voice came out in a quiet whisper, a plea. "I have begun with the task you gave me, yet I have many questions. Some of which I am sure I don't know to ask. The children look to you in your Church, yet the greatest task ahead is to seek others to join, and turn away from the influence of Lucifer. And adversaries are still on the loose, at every corner ready to feed on your delicate congregation. I am sure you're well aware of this. I just ask, humbly, that you share your answers with me. So that I may raise up your name and your teachings."

 

A soft breeze blew the curtains from a window that was not open before. Zelda stayed in her prayer stance. The scent of lavender, sulfur, and pomegranate gently brushed against her senses. A strangely sweet combination, one that Zelda was sure to grow fond of.

 

"Are you here, Dark Mother? I feel you here." No verbal answer came, but she felt the permission she needed to ask her questions. "Are our plans pleasing to you?" A gentle hand brushed against her back, claws scraping ever so lightly against the fabric of her dress, she did not turn around. Yes.

 

"The temple for your children to abide in will be done, and it shall be called qui _vincula_ erumpit because you have given us true freedom." A breeze came and went again, but Lilith's presence was still heavy in the room, like a vortex of energy Zelda was not familiar with.

 

"A second question, if I may ask it. My night-children Leticia and Judas, are they alright?" The word had many connotations, one of them being 'alive' which was the most important to the witch. She wished Ambrose and Prudence all the luck and skill needed to take down Blackwood once and for all. But her heart yearned for her night-children as they were the only two that were not currently under her charge. Zelda missed Leticia especially.

 

"They will come to you during a time of great strife, but you have nothing to be afraid of, for they will both survive and return to your care soon enough." Zelda gasped softly at Lilith's voice, deeper and more ancient than Mary Wardwell's, though that was how she appeared to Zelda in the garden.

 

"A time of great strife, my queen?" Zelda inquired, what about the last few months was not great strife? It left the redhead on the edge of fear again.

 

"Do you trust me, my high priestess?" Trust was a big word. Did Zelda enjoy the idyllic values the goddess presented? Yes. But it was hard to forget the lies, though they were Satan's orders, and Zelda understood that abuse and coercion could make one do terrible things. Zelda supposed she trusted her to stay true to her word about her commandments at the very least, so she nodded yes. "Then understand that no matter what happens, I am in your corner. So though you may feel afraid, you will never have a reason to be."

 

"Many work against us, I know this. I see it in hell as on earth. Those who orchestrate their devious plans will find hellfire instead of victory, I assure you. Continue to build the temple for my followers, which you are doing so well. And in the week after it is completed you shall hold a celebration, that is when I will come to you next."

 

"Yes, my queen."

 

"And Zelda? Stand up and turn around to face me." Zelda did as she was instructed, turning to see Lilith still appearing as Mary Wardwell, and not anything like the demon she had imagined was behind her the whole time. The demoness stood by the window, hands in the pockets of her humble pantsuit. She was dressed very mortal-like.

 

"Yes?" Lilith took her time waltzing to Zelda with all the confidence the witch wished she could possess in the demoness' presence. She only stopped half a foot away from her, eye to eye in the heels she wore.

 

"Don't bow to me. You're my High Priestess-it's beneath you. In any case, it's quite difficult to have a conversation when you're on your knees, not looking in my direction." A small, amused smirk graced Lilith's lips.

 

"Of course. I won't." The queen of Hell examined Zelda's eyes with curiosity. The witch was slightly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the demoness' gaze, but she kept the eye contact and waited until she was spoken to again.

 

"I want to give you something."

 

"Like what?" Zelda inquired rather impulsively. She inwardly chided herself about her untamed curiosity.

 

"You fear that you have enemies, and it's true, you do. So I will extend some of my power to you, and if the time ever comes where you need me and I cannot be there physically, you will have me." It was a simple exchange, Lilith just kissed Zelda's cheek. The witch did not feel any different but she supposed it would show when it was needed.

 

"Thank you, I don't know how I can repay you for this."

 

"It doesn't need payment, it is a gift." The raven-haired woman turned back towards the window as if it were a portal back to Hell, perhaps it was.

 

"Wait," She stopped her pursuits and turned back to Zelda, with an upturned brow. But it wasn't angry, so Zelda proceeded. "You always appear as Mary Wardwell... when will... will you ever show me your true self?"

 

"Perhaps one day you will see. But for now, Zelda, rest assured in the things I've already promised." Then she disappeared, and the witch felt as if she had blinked and missed an entire part of the day.

 

The rest of it went by fast, time making up for the lag from earlier. Zelda finished going over plans for numerous projects in the works, and periodically she'd glance behind her to the window wishing Lilith would come back.


	3. Strayers From The Pit

_“If they say, Come with us, let us lay in wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit.”_

_-Proverbs 1: 11_

 

__________

 

 

Their first congregational meeting was in the clearing in the woods by the Spellman Mortuary where Sabrina was born. Altogether there were around twenty to twenty-five of them. Witches and warlocks all huddled together in the fair air of spring, waiting to hear the message of Lilith from the mouth of Zelda Spellman.

 

The relationship between the High Priestess and her church was strong to begin with as they had all been living under the same roof for some time, and probably always would as Zelda would move to the academy when construction was finished.

 

This made Zelda feel confident that this sermon, well, this gathering would go well. Hilda, who was in the audience, assured her it would. She knew what she wanted to say, she knew who Lilith was more than anyone else in front of her except maybe Sabrina. And the story was so simple to tell since the Spellman household was part of it.

 

The story of how Lilith took down the Dark Lord. How she orchestrated the plan to deceive the great deceiver and had broken the chains of their toxic religion to bring a new order.

 

It was refreshing to be on a blank page, but daunting to know that she was a member of the original church. That she would lead the charge to establish these new principles. Even now there was a scribe to record the happenings of the first gathering, exactly as it would happen.

 

It would have to be perfect.

 

“We were on the brink of the apocalypse when our world turned on its head. The Dark Lord in his perverted mastery had attempted to bind the Spellman family to his wishes, to take Sabrina as his bride and to rule over us all, magic and mortal alike.” The congregation looked up to where Zelda was standing, enamored already by her words.

 

“Even Lilith, our Dark Mother, was bound to Lucifer’s will in the blind loyalty we all succumbed to in the past. But as she did the false god, she found the strength and the will to turn away.”

 

“Make no mistake about the perils present in this choice, for it was not an easy one. Yet still she turned from the Morningstar, so she gives us the freedom to turn from those who oppress us.” Zelda continued to recount the story, the young followers waiting with bated breath for the resolution. The scribe eagerly writing down her testimony in what would be their Bible of sorts.

 

“When Nicholas Scratch had sacrificed his vessel so Satan could be trapped, and Ambrose Spellman had rendered him unconscious, he was carried to the gates. Her Unholiness took the crown unapologetically and placed it on her head, so she gives us the will to take power for ourselves.”

 

“She took Satan, bound, and carried him past the gates to claim what was rightfully hers. And I watched as the flames of the pit consumed them both in glorious hellfire, and decided for myself that I would follow her. For she gives us the will to break our chains, and carry them like a fallen enemy, and banish them to the farthest corners of the earth.”

 

Zelda felt power surge through her as if Lilith was blessing her at that moment, ecstatic at her words- her testimony. She could feel it like a storm that ran through each of her nerves. It made her voice strong. It made her strong.

 

“Children of this congregation. If you so choose to follow her into the new path, to carry your strength on your shoulders, to drag your enemies behind you, then stand! Yield your power in your hands, feel it ripple through you! Direct it, let it lift you up! Let yourself ascend!” She wasn’t sure where the words were coming from but they felt right when they passed her lips.

 

The whole of them stood, hands grasping the hands beside them in a harmonious dance. Zelda was glowing, literally. It was faint and she doubted anyone noticed, but when she quickly glanced down to her hands, she saw the remnants of light that reminded her so dearly of the sunbeams filtering through the canopy in Eden.

 

“We’re sorry to interrupt your blasphemous service, but you know how it goes. Heathens must burn.” Zelda’s eyes trained on a group of familiar men dressed in black. They were a part of Blackwood’s cult of misogyny, trying to bring the magic world backward. They stood with knives in their hands and hatred in their hearts. Her body thrummed with energy.

 

“You are mistaken. Leave and I’ll let you walk away with your life.” The main boy, the leader, snorted at the threat as if it was empty. It was not.

 

“We don’t take orders from you, slut. Father Blackwood will return and bring the Church back to the glory it once had. And when he does, he will throw you right back in the witches' cell where you belong until we all get to watch you burn.”

 

A confident smirk graced Zelda’s lips, she wasn’t afraid of a few petty children.

 

“I don’t think so.” The main boy struggled against the knife that inched toward his throat without his permission. It stopped, resting at the junction of it. “Praise Lilith.” The knife slashed in a fluid motion, blood splattering over the rocks and grass as the boy flopped to the ground.

 

“And for the rest of you,” Zelda began, her eyes roaming to the other four. “Drop. Dead.” At her words, their bodies stiffened and fell much like the first boy’s. The congregation members, who had been watching fervently, stood in shock at the oldest Spellman’s powers of which they were unaware.

 

“Unholy shit.” One of them said.

 

“Sister?” Hilda came to stand next to her sister quickly, careful not to touch her. “Since when…?” Zelda didn’t answer directly to her sister, instead, she used this opportunity for what it was.

 

“Lilith protects us this day from our enemies, as she always will those who are faithful to her.”

 

“Praise Lilith!” One of the children yelled joyfully. The rest of them followed.

 

“Praise Lilith!”

-

When they all coalesced at the Mortuary, the excitement was still buzzing between the witches and warlocks about the oldest Spellman. But many of them looked more reassured about their purpose, confident in at least a small way, to this new deity.

 

Zelda and Hilda returned to the back porch, no one else followed. Not even Sabrina who took to her room where she spent most days after Nicholas Scratch sacrificed his body. Zelda wanted to assure her that she would get him back if she stayed patient. Knowing Sabrina, that wouldn’t be the case. Hopefully, Lilith wouldn’t be plucky about brushing her off. From Zelda’s understanding, Lilith cared for Sabrina so she wasn’t overly concerned.

 

“That was quite a service.” Hilda stirred her tea, offering some to Zelda which she refused. She was not much into that beverage these days.

 

“It went wonderfully, even that which could have been disastrous turned out to be a good thing. Instrumental in the building of the Church and Lilith’s message.”

 

“I cannot believe Blackwood’s boys came! Figures they’d have no common sense.” Zelda flinched, not unnoticeably. She had been strong in the clearing, drunk on the strength that she possessed. But now that the dust had cleared and settled, Zelda began to realize that he was still a threat, and there was so much to unpack.

 

“Zelda,” Hilda said with concern. “You are safe now. He’s not going to hurt you again. He’d face a lot of trouble if he tried.”

 

“I know. I’m trying.”

 

“You’re doing more than that. You’re succeeding. What you did today was strong and brave, properly terrifying. And I am sure Lilith would be proud.”

 

“I hope she would be as she is the one who gave me these powers.” A tiny trace of a smile appeared on Zelda’s lips. She must admit that feeling Lilith’s power running through her was exhilarating, she wanted to feel it again. More than that, she craved Lilith’s presence since their meeting in Zelda’s office. It was captivating and freeing all at once.

 

“She trusts you to do what she’s asked. That is a very high honor.”

 

 

“Hmm.” Was all Zelda responded with.

 

They stayed out on the porch until nighttime, and Zelda stayed even when Hilda excused herself to bed. Surprisingly she wasn’t craving a cigarette though she lit one up anyway. She wanted something much stronger and the bitter taste of nicotine was not satisfying.

 

Sighing, she continued to stare out, her eyes focusing on the tree line of the woods. Stubbing out her cigarette, she remembered Lilith’s words.

 

_I am in your corner._

 

Those words rested in the back of her mind, assuring her of her safety. When Blackwood came, and he would-she was sure, Zelda would be ready. Prudence and Ambrose would bring him back in chains, and Zelda would rip his head from his shoulders.

 

And it would pose on a spike, his eyes cut out, in front of the Church. So all will see how he was destroyed by the High Priestess. By a woman. Zelda took the cup of tepid tea and drank from it.

 

It was as sweet as the revenge she would take for herself.


	4. Lazarus

_"Jesus told her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.'"_

_John 11: 25_

 

Zelda's heart could not stop beating out of her chest; it was insane what the mere thought of Lilith could do to her. It was a strange mix of fear and determination not to mess up, to prove herself. Though the whole thing felt different, because before she tried to prove herself for all the wrong reasons which led to the witch getting into horrible situations. Now it was the incentive to make the new queen of Hell proud, and that, well, that was new.

 

Who was Zelda to care what another thought if it didn't raise her status, no matter how insignificant the rise would be?

 

Now? She was the most powerful witch alive, the witch with a direct line to her Church's diety, the witch who built that Church from the burning ashes of the old draconian prison that was the Church of Night. Zelda could feel the power Lilith bestowed to her thrumming through her bones and yet she craved still. Always teeming between wanting more and feeling overwhelmed with it.

 

Her wrists ached with the weight of her unanswered questions so she rolled them, her small hands bunched into fists, as she waited on the steeple of the Church, the festival's litany bouncing within the building- faint noises finding their way keenly into the cold night.

 

"Always a sight for sore eyes, High Priestess. A treasure, really." The demoness winked jokingly, the tension did not disappear between them. Perhaps Zelda did look like a treasure, in the gold petaled dress that adorned her small frame; snug but comfortable. Lilith, always her complimentary opposite, wore silver that bounced off of her dark hair and juxtaposed against her eyes fiercely.

 

"Well," Lilith's hand extended towards Zelda, a curious expression across her face- false innocence she was sure. "Will you escort me in?" Gingerly, Zelda took Lilith's hand in her own, flinching slightly upon the contact from the chill. As their hands settled in each others', Lilith taking the liberty to intertwine their fingers' together as well, she asked: "Are you afraid of my hand, Zelda?" Amusement laced her tone, and it was hard for Zelda not to smile as well.

 

"No my Queen, your hands are cold as ice."

 

"A shame really, considering I spend so much time in the literal pit of Hell, hmm? Either way, you shouldn't fear me- I don't bite," The demoness turned to look at the witch as she had ended up ahead of them both, escorting rather than being escorted, and brushed a stray hair from the front of Zelda's face more tenderly than the red-head thought capable of her. "Unless you want me to of course." Then the cheeky, nonchalant nature that Zelda associated with her returned, and they were off again to join the rest of the witches and warlocks in the banquet hall.

 

__________

 

The silence was startling when the party took notice of who had arrived, graceful and otherworldly in Zelda's arms. For the first time in her long, long life- Zelda wanted the attention rebuked from her. Lilith, still shorter than Zelda in her small heels, rested her chin on her shoulder- lavender, pomegranate, and sulfur washed over Zelda's senses and it reminded her of the comfort she offered before in her office only steps away from where they were now, and it abated her nerves slightly.

 

"You should make a speech, all eyes are on you."

 

"On you, you mean."

 

"Fine, on both of us." Lilith half agreed. "You'll be my words, won't you? I'm not much for... encouragement? As you say." Zelda looked towards Lilith, head angling down slightly to accommodate for the height difference.

 

There was an uncertainty that, if one knew where to look, they would see clearly in Lilith's eyes of ice. As strong as she knew, as she had experienced that Lilith was, perhaps she also held the fear of being disappointing. Perhaps they were increasingly more similar than Zelda originally thought.

 

"Okay, I'll be your words."

 

Eyes followed Lilith as she made her way to the throne in the center of the back wall, laced in silver chains over bones-black as ash. Tiny whispers, delightful little prayers made their way to Zelda's ears, confidence emanating off the most powerful creature in the room like she owned gravity and pulled devotion from the hearts of those attending.

 

She sat, lithe body making itself comfortable on the silk lain seat, chalice of whatever- from whoever curled by darling, pale fingers. Only when she motioned for Zelda to start did the witch, indeed, start breathing again. Her hand felt lost without Lilith's to hold.

 

"We have been blessed today to be in the presence of our Dark Mother. Our goddess, most immanent- most powerful, has come here today to see the foundation of her Church. But do not mistake yourself to think that the building is the Church, for it is only a physical manifestation of it. Her's is a spirit, our spirit as we cultivate what it means to be powerful and free. Without binds, and only the natural order and balance of the world as our consequence."

 

"The old ways do not apply to us any longer, they are echos of oppression that we stomp under our feet and leave behind us. Before us is a woman who has exemplified for us that no matter the costs, freedom is worth every all of it. It is priceless." That was all Zelda could think to say, she had said plenty over the last few months of sermons. But she realized, as words flooded her mind but wouldn't escape her lips, that some things she wanted to say privately.

 

"My High Priestess speaks with clarity about my intentions. There is someone, a young man who understood what it meant to be free because, for all of us, he gave up his freedom. But today I grant it to him again in compensation for his sacrifice." There wasn't a big flash of light or a grand gesture from Lilith, but the choked sob from Sabrina as she ran to the returned Nicholas Scratch, embracing him as he did her-though he looked more confused than relieved, was proof enough of the truly returned man.

 

Gasps rolled through the crowd at Lilith's Lazarus trick, but as happy as Zelda was for Sabrina, fear spiked its ugly head at the thought of Satan, not trapped by His Vitruvian Man, wandering around Hell looking for revenge.

 

"Zelda, don't be so nervous," Lilith cooed, appearing by her right side again, her hand returning to the other witch's, less chilled than it was the first time. "I'm not so careless as to leave Lucifer unpatrolled and untrapped."

 

"How?" The redhead's curiosity was peaked, but she was left unsatisfied with Lilith's response.

 

"With some very clever magic."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait and short chapter, it's been a really hectic time for me and I won't go into it but thanks for everyone who left kudos on the story and who are enjoying here, and on Wattpad. It makes me really happy that I can bring a little joy with every update, thank you guys so much :)


	5. The Wisdom of Solomon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if there are mistakes it's 1 am and dont know why i'm posting now but i'll fix mistakes tomorrow, byee!!

_"I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will have never been anyone like you, nor will there ever be."_

_1 Kings 3:12_

__________

 

Funny how an entire day hung precariously on the edge of a knife.

 

The High Priestess hadn't expected Ambrose's message, quick, messy handwriting sprawled across a restaurant napkin. It had sent through her tsunami level shockwaves, equal parts excitement and terror embraced in tremors that could not be ignored.

 

Prudence and Ambrose had found Leticia, and Zelda would be able to see her little girl again after over a year of having her stolen away. Months on end of tireless searching that came and went in waves, balancing with trepidation and lacking in haste. They had not been successful in finding Judas, much to Zelda's grave disappointment, but she did not think Blackwood would hurt him and so it calmed her- if only slightly.

 

Images of the girl flashed through her mind as she waited anxiously. Was she hurt? Had she grown much since Zelda had last seen her? Of course, she had. Leticia would be two now. Zelda knew that much from her meticulous counting of days. She gently rubbed her tired eyes and tried to breathe and- how did Hilda always put it? _Think positive thoughts._

 

"Auntie Z?" Her nephew's voice carried in a whisper as to not startle the shivering bundle in his arms. Zelda let out a breath of relief.

 

"Ambrose, Leticia..." The poor girl looked terrified, clutching onto Ambrose like she didn't want to lose him... as if she thought he'd walk away and never return. Ambrose had covered her in his own jacket, her small frame draped in only a paper thin dress underneath, a bear clutched in her hand with the tag line- _Glasgow Orphanage._

 

"My poor girl..." Zelda tentatively reached out for her, but Leticia only moved closer to her older cousin, scared and unsure.

 

"It's alright Leticia, it's auntie Z remember? I told you we would see her again..." Ambrose's coaxing began to work, though Zelda wasn't sure the girl completely trusted her... the older witch was stuck between being a stranger and being a ghost.

 

Leticia's head peeked up from under her beautiful bundle of dark curls, deep pools of amber met Zelda's face trying to decipher if this was all real, if she was finally home. Across her left cheek was a bandage, half covering a scar that marred her soft brown skin.

 

"It's okay sweet girl, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." Maybe she had offered enough reassurance, or maybe Letty was tired of fighting, but she allowed herself to be taken into Zelda's arms, her vice-like grip around Zelda's neck a testament to her strength even through her struggle. She kissed her forehead gently, comforted at her return and scared of the thought of ever letting her go again. She had made a mistake after Gryla. She should've kept Leticia, she should've stolen Judas too. She should have never married Blackwood in the first place...

 

"Is she hungry? Has she eaten?"

 

"A little. Truth be told, she probably won't."

 

"Well then, I'll get her settled and then you can tell me everything."

 

__________

 

After a bath and a change of clothes, and Zelda trying and failing to get Leticia to lie down on her bed in the mortuary, she contentedly held her instead as she slept. Ambrose exhaustedly sprawled on the armchair across from them, not sure where to start discussing the wild goose chase for Blackwood.

 

"Prudence and I were in Scotland, that's the last place we found a trace of him. His Judas boys were sprawled across America, Europe... we were constantly being attacked in our pursuits."

 

"It was when we got there that one of my colleagues, who works in Glasgow, said that she may have found Leticia- she had been on the lookout as well once we realized he was in the old country."

 

"That's where we found her." Zelda's right hand worried itself while her left adjusted its grip on the girl, trying to get more comfortable.

 

"I'm not understanding. Why would he take her away just to leave her at an orphanage?" Ambrose shrugged.

 

"Don't know, Aunt Z. He must've thought that if we _found_ her we would _stop_ looking for him. But she wasn't left at the orphanage, Eleanor found her by the road and brought her there until she could get in contact with me to bring her back. The place was for mortal children and, well, Blackwood hates mortals."

 

Anger burned inside Zelda, red and hot like the flames of Hell themselves. Leticia was not some dispensable thing for Blackwood to pretend to care for until he didn't anymore. She was a child, a young, bright witch who deserved more from everyone in her life. The start of it was tumultuous, and Zelda now made a promise to herself that she would not let that cycle continue. Not for her.

 

"And Prudence? She's on her own now, why did she not return?" "She's still tracking Blackwood, I'll rejoin her soon but one of us had to bring Leticia back once we found her. We couldn't afford to lose sight of him either... This entire search has been a frustrating mess, he's too good at covering his tracks. I'm not sure we would've ever found Letty had she still been with him. I doubt we'll get the same luck with Judas." Zelda closed her eyes for a spell, wondering if her family would ever catch a break. Prudence and Ambrose had been searching for so long, and though she hadn't had a situation with the Judas boys since the clearing, it didn't mean they weren't out there. Awaiting orders, a threat hidden in the bushes ready to attack at any moment.

 

Lilith would protect them, she knew. Maybe it was idiotic to have such blind faith, but what was faith if not that? If anything, Zelda had seen how powerful the demoness was, had entrusted in her since she was a child, and had always preferred to pray to her than to Lucifer for the things closest to her heart. She hadn't prayed since the time in her office months before, but she was sure that the queen of Hell knew what she felt. They were closer than they had ever been, closer than Zelda ever thought they would be.

 

"I'm unsure what their plans are, but Prudence and I believe that Blackwood is trying to establish another Church, an antithesis to this one. He never stopped thriving for his principles to be standard."

 

"Who is he worshipping, exactly? Satan is trapped in Hell. Lilith is queen." The warlock pursed his lips.

 

"I doubt he knows that... many witches don't, actually. Old country churches still have the Baphomet statues, the depictions of the fall of Lucifer are still etched in the walls," Ambrose said, miming the scene with gesticulation. "This is the first Church of Lilith, and as of right now, the only one."

 

The thought rolled over in Zelda's mind, and she realized: there was no way that other churches could know about Lilith's claiming of the throne. Greendale was the mecca for this new order and, inside the bubble it offered, there was a security that all practicing witches and warlocks were on the same page. But if Blackwood was preparing to bring the fight to them...

 

"It's time to disciple to a broader audience, it isn't enough to rebuild the Church, we have to rebuild the system. Uproot a belief that came from the beginning of time." Leticia stirred as Zelda rose from her chair, so she took to gently bouncing her as she did when she was a babe while she paced the living room.

 

"How do we do that, auntie?" Her nephew's face morphed with the concern that she felt. How could she destroy and rebuild a network of corrupted worship and backward thinking? Edward had his principles, wild as they were, but this was different. Zelda's task was greater; why would witches move their center of worship to a new diety? What allegiance would they have to a goddess they do not know?

 

"Hell if I know," Was her intelligent response. After a quip of silence, Zelda dismissed Ambrose to find his Aunt Hilda and Sabrina, if the girl was even here. She stayed in the living room for some time after that and then did begin to pray- very informally.

 

_My Queen, I hope you are listening, I pray you are._

 

_You were right as I knew you would be, Leticia is back to me and safe, but I fear the threat rising on the horizon._

 

_If Ambrose and Prudence are right, then I have to act fast on this._

 

_The problem is I haven't any idea where to start, and the chess board is so precarious that one wrong move is a heavy loss._

 

 _Lilith,_ she pleaded, using her goddesses real name instead of a title to invoke the same intimacy they shared in the garden in her dream.

 

_Please, I need you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more of a filler chapter, but it does set up some important stuff nonetheless. The next chapter is a little intense and might be a little confusing but also very necessary. After the next chapter is when things will start colliding together and start making a little more sense!! We'll see more of the Nick situation, how Zelda handles some of her trauma (it comes and goes in waves like it does in real life, sometimes you're strong and sometimes there are triggers that bring you back and it's important for me to show the whole picture in my writing), and some more personal interactions between Zelda and Lilith. I definitely want to explore how similar Zelda and Lilith are and how that, as well as the unbalanced power dynamic, would make this relationship or friendship or whatever kind of partnership these two have, complicated and messy but, also how they navigate that since an entire religion quite literally depends on them getting along jaja.


	6. Cleansed by Fire, and Born Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long-winded, 2.700 or so word chapter today!! TW: does delve more deeply into both Zelda and Lilith's abuse, although not for very long. But it was important for me to give a warning nonetheless.

 

_"And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."  
_

_1 Peter 3:21_

__________

 

"Wake up, Zelda."

 

Tension released from Zelda's body from the peace emanating off of whoever was trying to wake her. It made her want to do the exact opposite, having, even in her lack of nightmares recently, not had this much serenity in a while.

 

A body shifted closer, and a hand went from her shoulder to her hair, trying to coax her from her rest.

 

"Wake up, my High Priestess. We are running out of time." The voice became clearer in Zelda's ears. Smooth like honey, drawn out like the smoke from one of her cigarettes. Addicting in every sense of the word.

 

"Lilith?" Through hazy vision, the witch peered up to icy blue eyes that warmed, uncharacteristically, as they met Zelda's grey ones.

 

"I'm dreaming?" The demoness chuckled softly, shaking her head in the negative.

 

" I'm here to give the answers you seek. But we must be quick about getting them. There's only a small window of time we can perform the ritual in."

 

Zelda sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and trying to focus on the woman in front of her, her goddess who had visited her in the middle of the night. Zelda prayed she would not be loose-lipped in her exhaustion.

 

"I'm sorry, a ritual?" 

 

"It will make more sense when we arrive at the river, you're going to have to trust me," Then, after a pause, "You told me you trusted me to do what was best."

 

For a brief second Zelda saw the same insecurities in Lilith's eyes she had seen during their celebration post the building of the new Church. They searched for something in Zelda, a raw answer about the question she just asked. An effect of having such crystal-like eyes, they served as a mirror that the witch wasn't sure she was supposed to look through but was also keenly aware she may have been invited for that very purpose. That weird mix of openness and secretive actions Lilith reserved for her High Priestess that was present every time they met.

 

"Where's this river, my Queen? I'll go with you." The other woman's smile was as genuine as Zelda thought it would ever get with so many secrets she knew was behind her. Assured in the witch's words, Lilith brushed her hand against Zelda's cheek gently.

 

"Well then, let's go to Hell."

 

 

__________

Hell was not what Zelda was expecting.

 

Or, at least, not this part of it.

 

She had seen the entrance, burning hot where the condensation met in billowing smoke. But here, there was only a dry mountain pass with twisting and treacherous paths connecting directly to a-

 

"River of fire," Zelda began. "I was unaware of this one's existence." She had read her Satanic bible so much she remembered the smallest details about the five rivers of Hell, the myths that were connected with them. The only other river of fire was the Phlegethon, and the topography was described much differently then what the redhead saw in front of her.

 

"Yes, my High Priestess, you are as enlightened as always. It's true that the main rivers, well their Greek names anyway; the Styx, Acheron, Phlegethon, Cocytus, and Lethe, are all the ones that show up in Lucifer's stupid little book. But this river, _my_ river, came before the others. It was born from my rebellion, and even now, the flame that flows down the mountain stream is the same fire in every witches' blood."

 

Lilith knelt beside the river, cupping boiling liquid in her hand and letting it slip through her fingertips, not a mark left on her hand.

 

"The river will give you the clarity you crave. As I chose my own path when I walked away from Adam, from Eden, so the river should help you forge your own. Hopefully, it will be less of a... _disappointment_... than mine was." Lilith's choice of words stayed unquestioned, though Zelda was tempted to ask her why she downplayed her servitude to Satan as a disappointment. Zelda was all too familiar with how subjugation under a man could be ruinous.

 

"Well, let us get started." 

 

Lilith moved behind Zelda slowly, purposefully, brushing fiery red hair from her shoulders so it fell directly down her back.

 

"Is it alright with you if I remove your nightgown? I need to paint the sigils on your body." Zelda breathed softly through her nose and she nodded, an almost unnoticeable, _yes_. Her fingers worrying themselves as they always did.

 

Lilith's fingers slid under the left strap of Zelda's nightgown, gently sliding it down the other witch's arm. There was no mal-intention, only a focus to finish what she brought Zelda down here to do. The ritual for her own peace of mind.

 

The other strap fell from her shoulders, blush silk falling to the ground floor of Hell, leaving her in only blood red negligee.

 

"Zelda?" She felt a hand brush against the scar lines that still crossed her back that she had miraculously forgotten about. Her glamour rescinded as there was no need to uphold the magic in her sleep. Had she realized their presence, she would've never allowed Lilith to take off her nightgown.

 

The witch in question stepped away, Her back facing away from Lilith, but she was desperately marked along the front too... horrible lines painted on smooth canvas; red and warm against her abdomen... on her thighs...

 

"Who did this to you?" The demoness asked softly, slightly strained.

 

"No one, I did," Zelda answered quickly, tears pricking at her vision against her consent.

 

"No you did not, not like this," Lilith's voice rang in her ears keeping its calm about as much as an eye of a storm. "So I'll ask again. Who- the heaven- did this to you?" No response.

 

"Zelda-"

 

"Why?" Zelda bit back. "Why is it so important you know, what could you possibly be protecting me from now? It's too late! You're too late..." Her voice was rough, but the tears that spilled from her eyes spoke more of deep, unending sadness. _It was a cycle_ , Hilda had explained to her as she held her shaking frame in the library one night. Zelda felt strong, then she felt weak, but the one thing she always felt- no matter what- was fear. Fear of losing control just as she was doing in front of Lilith, barely keeping her tears behind her eyes. Underneath anything else she felt, it had always been the embarrassment, the shame, and the fear since the Caligari spell had broken.

 

In Zelda's opinion, it was better she reveal Lilith her anger rather than her despair. Anger, Lilith could use, Zelda could use, she would not be weak in front of her goddess.

 

"I've handled... I'm handling it, everything. I'm fine." Lilith sighed, not disappointed, but resigned. She lifted raven hair up from her neck as she, once again, came closer to Zelda. Turning her back to the High Priestess expectantly.

 

"I don't understand..."

 

"Fair is fair, right? If fairness is what I am asking you to teach my Church, I should follow through with that myself." Zelda's eyes scanned the gossamer dress that adorned Lilith's body. She, tentatively, took hold of the zipper at the nape of her neck. "It's alright Zelda, keep going." She sounded so unsure, but Zelda would not question her again.

 

What she saw was beautiful and horrifying.

 

Tanned skin covered in the maliciousness only associated with Lucifer's wrath. They crossed like ley lines, illuminated by the glow of the fiery river. Even Lilith's weakness pulsated with strength, Zelda only wished for the same thing herself.

 

"It is more than obvious who did this to me," She started in dry humor. "They can be so ugly, can't they? Reminders of a past we try so hard to forget. But, unfortunately, they become a part of us. We have to carry the burden, we carry it into the future because we can't seem to _shake the devil off_ as they say." The demoness stepped away from Zelda, not shy about removing her gown fully since there was, in fact, nothing else to hide.

 

"I can't tell you how to deal with your trauma," Lilith started again after that pause. "That's a very _personal_ journey you'll have to take for yourself. What matters now is that your questions find answers, all of them. So, the ritual?"

 

"Yes, what do we need to do?" Grateful that Lilith didn't seem to want to linger anymore on their conversation, she tuned in to the directions being given.

 

Lilith explained, rapidly, how she'd draw the sigils on Zelda's body. And how they would both enter the river, and the demoness would baptize her leaving Zelda's body under the fire until the marks dissipated from her skin. Only then would the ritual be complete. 

 

The demoness' blood, dripping languidly from her right hand, stung against Zelda's skin in contrast to the cold and slender fingers that painted arcane marks against her. _Enochian_. The language of the Angels she had learned, the language of Eden. 

 

She walked behind Lilith towards the river when she had been fully inscribed in her blood, her body buzzing with the incantations. Upon walking in, Zelda expected the fire to be hot or at least warm, but it was cool. Comforting.

 

"Do many people survive this?" Zelda asked in curiosity.

 

"Considering I am the only one who's been through this ritual, I can accurately say there is a one-hundred percent success rate." Charming words and a charming smile to match, but now Zelda had another pressing issue on her mind. "Don't worry, I won't let you die. That would leave me in a compromising position."

 

Zelda pushed her head under the fire, and briefly, felt Lilith's hands on her shoulders holding her under. But it did not register long before her whole world faded to black.

 

_She heard the music box._

 

_The pushing and pulling lilt sounded as the ballerina twisted around its peg. Absolutely nauseating. She blinked away the tune and tried to establish herself, this was a vision, she was still in Hell._

 

_"You've got a way to go before you find me, Zelda, unless of course- you don't want to find me at all."_

 

_"You..." The man walked closer to her, unrelenting like a predator. Zelda reached behind her to a desk where a letter opener materialized, she held it in front of her. It would have to do. It was all she had._

 

_"Oh, Zelda, how pitiful you are."_

 

_"Stay the heaven away from me." They were in her office, his office? It was a clash between worlds. A painting of the fight between Lucifer and Michael hung just above Blackwood's head on the far wall. But in Michael's place was Lilith, and she dressed in shimmering gold- a knife against the red throat of Lucifer._

 

_It couldn't be a coincidence she and he were dressed in similar colors, like soldiers marching into battle for their deities._

 

_"You're the High Priestess now; you sit in my office, in my throne, and you peddle to a bunch of children this blasphemous notion that they can have it all. Power demands sacrifice. Since the beginning of time, it's been this way."_

 

_"We've sacrificed, Blackwood. The children whose families you killed, sacrificed. My family has sacrificed, I have. And I would do it again if it means we get to be where we are now, away from your self-serving, antiquated delusions."_

 

_"You think you're stronger than me? I know the truth... you know the truth. You're afraid of me. You're a scared little girl with a crown too heavy for you on your head."_

 

_"Maybe you're right, maybe I'm still afraid. Maybe I'll always be afraid. But know this. When we capture you, and we will, I will make you stand trial. I will watch your kingdom crumble, I will destroy it myself. And when I signal to Prudence to cut off your head, you will look me in the eyes and understand that it was me, Zelda Phiona Spellman, who was responsible for your downfall."_

 

_"Congratulations, Faustus, you've found yourself a formidable opponent."_

 

Gasping for air, she felt herself being pulled up and landed- rather un-gracefully- in Lilith's arms. The demoness cradled Zelda's shaking body to her, the younger witch overwhelmed with the vision she had, had under the fire.

 

"I told you that you would survive." Lilith's silky voice emanated in Zelda's ear, the redhead laughed in return.

 

"Yes, you did," Zelda's voice grated against her throat and her laughter transitioned into a rough cough. "No offense to you, your majesty but your river taste like embalming fluid." Their bodies pulled apart, both floating aimlessly in the weirdly cold river of fire.

 

"How do you feel now?"

 

"Scared," Zelda started. "But assured nonetheless."

 

"Hmm, can I ask what you're assured of?"

 

"That we will win in the end. You know what's coming, don't you Lilith? You brought me down here as much for you as for myself." Lilith's eyes scanned Zelda's face, lips pursed approvingly like the other woman had, in fact, confirmed what she already knew. 

 

"I brought Nicholas Scratch back to life because his body would have been destroyed by Satan upon his return. There was no use keeping him under. I know without a sliver of doubt that He will, and He will be angry-seeking retribution. It was never Sabrina's destiny to kill him, it was mine. His blood is my right. It seems as if your fate and mine are intertwined, we both have egregious men to kill." 

 

"Blackwood," Zelda answered, Lilith, nodded. "He's the one who did this to me. I married him selfishly thinking that I could gain power. Thinking if I became High Priestess I could honor my brother, I could protect my family. Then he put me under the Caligari spell." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a minute.

 

"I wasn't untruthful when I said that I had given myself these injuries, some of them I did, I simply wasn't in control of myself when I had done it."

 

Lilith's eyes glowed by the fire in her anger, but the rest of her face remained calm, gentle even.

 

"He lied to me Lilith, he used me to hurt Sabrina and Ambrose, he murdered my brother and he abandoned Leticia. So when I find him, he will die. And hopefully, then this horrible nightmare will be over."

 

"I pray it helps, his destruction."

 

"It will, it has to," Zelda licked her lips, unsure of where to go from there. She remembered the banquet in her honor, where she had spoken with clarity on her goddess and what she meant to the coven. There were still so many questions, however, on what she meant to Zelda herself.

 

"Twice you've asked me if I trusted you, Lilith. Both times I've not answered fully, so I am answering you now. I do, or at least, I'm inclined to. Though my faith in you is strong, though I know that you will protect your Church, it is when it comes to me and my role that I need clarification."

 

"Go on," Lilith replied with a raised eyebrow, interested in the challenge Zelda proposed.

 

"Promise me something, my Queen, that we are in this battle together, always. That you'll be there for me and I promise to do the same. Because the truth is, we cannot win if we are not on the same page. I understand my limits, and I understand that you're my goddess before you're my friend, and I'd like to think that we are- friends. But I don't want you fighting on your own, and I certainly don't want that for myself. You said it yourself that our fates are intertwined..." 

 

"They definitely seem to be, don't they? I agree that we must work together. To a certain extent, I even agree to our supposed friendship you so boldly presume, and perhaps rightly observe. So I do agree to your terms," Lilith's left hand reached across the river's surface towards Zelda.

 

"We beat Blackwood, then the devil himself once and for all." Zelda grasped the outreached hand with her opposite.

 

"Deal." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> strangers to tentative friendship to ??? these two are so complicated jajaja


	7. Queen of Cups

_"A time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace"_

 

_-Ecclesiastes 3:8_

_____________

 

  
  
Zelda sipped curiously through her straw wondering when this dreadful meeting would be over.

 

The rugged face of Orion, a member of the most Unholy council, sat across from her in a booth at Dr. Cerberus', the man himself as well as her sister standing by the door in false nonchalance. Vigilant, dangerous, ready to act at any obvious threat the man posed.

 

And what a big threat that was.

 

His attitude did not scare Zelda, nor did the rest of the council. But war was war, and that's what they were in: these were the politics of it, the eye before the storm, the desperate attempt to right what couldn't be righted in time before the match was inevitably blown.

 

" _High Priestess_ Zelda," Orion began with all the contempt written across his face, pedaling his voice, "how the heaven did you manage that?"

 

"Quick wit and a charming personality."

 

"Not so charming," he rolled a french fry disdainfully between his thick fingers, "where has Blackwood run off to? I am sure you know as you decided to piece together the remnants of the Church of Night at his absence."

 

"I am sure _you know_ ," Zelda pointed back at him, "that he tried, almost successfully, to murder the entire coven by poisoning, and then ran like a coward from his punishment. We _are_ looking for him."

 

"All the more reason you should be aware of his location if he is such a threat..." _If._ How dense could he be? Of course, Blackwood was a threat... but so was Orion in Zelda's eyes, and the High Priestess remained unconvinced the councilman was impartial to the fugitive.

 

"If you see it my way as you just suggested, why haven't you looked for him at all? There's a Church that needed rebuilding, children to look after," _religion to be remade,_ she didn't add, "a little assistance would go miles... but you aren't here for that, are you?" Orion licked his lips unattractively, ready to spew his speech of self observed superiority.

 

"This Church of Lilith is blasphemy. Your _passion project_ is going to crash and burn and the only reason we do not stop you is that this duty lies with the Dark Lord himself."

 

Zelda leaned in closer, a treacherous little smile appeared on her face, impishly as if she held all the secrets of the universe in her mind, all rolling around behind puzzling grey-green eyes.

 

"Your Dark Lord has abandoned you, Orion, you just do not see it yet. You call my Church blasphemous when your institution is crippled in it. It's poetic how mind-numbing anecdotes of his greatness and the brainwashing of his followers have left you complacent in your wrongs, and complicit in unspeakable crimes including, may I remind you, the poisoning of the members of the previous Church of Night. Now members of _my_ Church, and I don't like overbearing men trying to strong-arm me into doing what they want me to do. That's not the precedent I intend to set."

 

"You walk a thin line, Ms. Spellman. Do not cross it with me!"

 

"It's _High_ _Priestess_ Spellman now, and I believe it is you who should watch their steps." She stood herself up from the booth, settling again on the edge of the table to look down at the man before her.

 

"You were all so afraid of my niece when she questioned your rules and rebuked your traditions. It was funny, you all being terrified of a sixteen-year-old," Zelda smirked at the thought, even at her own stupidity to herd Sabrina closer to the Church of Night, "Did you know Satan wanted to make her his queen? To rule over all of you, in case that message escaped you. That is why Blackwood ran away, because of his cowardice to change. Do you still believe in Blackwood? Do you still believe in your false god?"

 

"Who I do not believe is you," he replied, visibly shaking in his anger, "you're lying on our unholiness." She turned her head with a concerned look, like an observer at the zoo watching over a monkey that fell from its perch, thinking it was both amusing and deeply saddening. Of course, monkeys were seemingly more intelligent than the council members, so that observation had its faults.

 

"Well it doesn't matter whether or not you believe me, take my warning with a grain of salt for all I care."

 

"What are you on about?"

 

"I am gently reminding you to mind your words," Zelda shook her head with laughter; half-insane and half-drunk on confidence, "because if you ever threaten my Church or spit blasphemy upon it again, I swear to Hell herself I will rip your throat out and feed it to Hellhounds."

 

She removed herself from the table, winking with the mirth her inside joke brought her. Lilith and herself had decided it was best the council remain unaware of the regime change until they could rally other covens behind them. Starting with the grassroots and working their way up. What was one 'rogue' Church against an established regime? In the eyes of the council, they weren't much of a threat, and that was their advantage.

 

Then Orion showed up that morning, unannounced at the Mortuary, and for the safety and secrecy of the coven, Zelda decided a hole in the wall monster-themed milkshake shop was better negotiating grounds than the Church.

 

Orion rose from his seat furiously, brushing invisible wrinkles from his pantsuit quite aggressively. Zelda remained annoyingly calm and optimistic which did nothing but aggravate him more.

 

"Find him and bring him to the council to stand trial immediately upon his capture, I've had enough of this outrageous heresy. As he is still your husband, he remains your responsibility."

 

"All technicalities." Zelda's voice crept with agitation though her face remained neutral. She cared not for the legality of her marriage that she quickly found out could not be annulled nor could divorce be made for obvious reasons. A paper, flimsy and unassuming kept her tied to her abuser and, with no need of euphemisms, and no fear of covering up what happened to her, she decided to call it as she saw it.

 

"Technicality or not, I expect you to fix the problem as this has caused massive amounts of chaos amongst warlocks and witches, or else-"

 

"You'll try and remove me, I assume? No need to be haughty and illogical, Orion, we both are intent on finding him and re-establishing order amongst witches and warlocks." Zelda dismissed him, tiring quickly of this back and forth and his accusatory tone. She might make good on her threat and feed his throat to the Hellhounds by the end of this anyway if only to be relieved from his assinine logic.

 

"One more thing I must inquire of you," Zelda held back the urge to roll her eyes, "Methuselah, my brother, do you know what happened to him?" She chanced a quick look at her sister before turning her full attention to the councilman.

 

"I'm unsure... but I'm sure whatever did happen to him, he was asking for it." Flicking her wrist to finally close the door behind the now disgruntled figure, she turned to Hilda and Cerberus who looked at her with curiosity.

 

"Zelds?"

 

"We have to find him before they do, else they'll excuse Blackwood for his crimes and try to re-establish the Church of Night under Lucifer. For established men, they're so transparent..."

 

"That would be absolutely disastrous," Dr. Cerberus' brows scrunched in concern, "and idiotic considering his crimes."

 

"Do you think they'll discover what happened to Methuselah?" The blonde asked, concern written in every syllable, "I wouldn't want my mistake to fall negatively on you, sister." Zelda shook her head.

 

"It matters not what the council does or does not do in regards to Methuselah's disappearance, no one is going to hurt anyone or I will, indeed, feed the offenders into the flames." The redhead sighed into her hands for a moment, all the loose ends that still needed tying up. She could spend the next hundred years picking up shrapnel and still not reverse the damage of bullets shot from a coup.

 

"We should all remain careful. The timeline for this war speeds at an outstanding rate, it will only get more dangerous from here. Dr. Cerberus, thank you again for your help these last weeks. Even with understanding the danger..."

 

"Anything for the cause, and, for Hilda of course." Zelda swallowed the pang of jealousy that sprung in her at the look Dr.Cerberus gave Hilda, not understanding where it came from but, nonetheless, picturing familiar blue eyes, raven hair, and tan freckled skin behind the brick wall that was her emotional capacity.

 

Zelda cleared her throat softly, turned to her wrist to barely check the time, then looked up again towards the pair explaining that she had best get back to the Church and that she would see them later if their schedules allowed it.

 

"We will definitely see you later, sister," Hilda exclaimed, embracing Zelda enthusiastically, "and we will find him soon, all of us." The witch nodded in return with a faint smile, and walked -hands in pockets- out of Dr.Cerberus' and into the streets of Greendale, taking her time to the Church by foot.

 

Something, maybe the universe, was telling Zelda to look across the street, the opposite of where she planned to go. In her vision was a short woman with a familiar frame, ebony curls bouncing behind her with a silhouette of red flame around her from the midday sun. Zelda squinted her grey-green eyes tighter, trying to picture the aura of the woman she desperately wanted to see, and desperately, did the High Priestess want to be right.

 

"Lilith?" She asked softly under her breath, and the stranger turned herself to the front of the redhead, exposing her face to her, filled with confusion.

 

"Zelda?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sets down dumb bitch juice* hey guys I'm back from my unplanned hiatus!! life is stressful!! fuck retrograde!!
> 
> on the other note, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next chapter will come within the next few days cause I have already been working on it!


	8. The Lost Coin and the Lost God

_"Either what woman having ten pieces of silver; if she loses one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she finds it?'_

_-Luke 15: 8_

____________

"Zelda?"

 

The woman in question did not hesitate to walk across the street, pushing past disgruntled mortals on her way to Lilith who stood, agitated herself, in front of Greendale's only tattoo shop. She worried her lips and Zelda, transfixed with the motion, took her time in addressing her queen, a slight blush across her cheeks.

 

"No disrespect my Queen but, what are you doing here?"

 

"We do not have time for those formalities, Zelda, we must go." Without explanation, Lilith pulled Zelda's arm, leading her to a back alley, secluded from prying eyes.

 

"We always seem to be in a rush together somewhere, to Hell to-?"

 

"The grounds," Lilith began with a smile of her own, "I'm unsure why I came here instead of my destination, I must've been distracted. But no matter, now that you're here, we might as well go together."

 

"Was I on your mind so much you came to me instead of your wanted destination?" The demoness licked her lips almost nervously.

 

"You seem to be on my mind a lot lately," The she spoke quickly. Then, as if thinking her sentence over, she added, "with our friendship, and all," Lilith's hands, strong and soft, held Zelda's. The High Priestess stared intently at their joined hands, enamored by the freckles that dotted the other woman's skin, stars against a smooth canvas.

 

"Zelda? Are you ready to go?"

 

"I'm ready."

 

They arrived at the part of the woods where Sabrina had opened up the gates of Hell during the apocalypse. Where Sabrina's parents gave her up to the Dark Lord. The place where Satan had fallen from grace, and where Lilith and him, had met, had loved, and where Lilith had lost it all for the second time.

 

All of it must've been running through her mind, she tensed, back to Zelda as she calculated every inch of the clearing. Zelda placed her hand gently on her back, Lilith's hand coming up to meet hers.

 

"We should get started," The demoness said, dismissive of the kind gesture, but she did not let go of Zelda's hand until they came upon the point of contact.

 

"What are we looking for?"

 

"My athame, if it is accessible to me that is. We will need it in order to defeat Lucifer."

 

"I wasn't aware that anything other than the Spear of Longinus could defeat him."

 

"Well I haven't a clue where that is and, well, I'm one of the first on this earth so I will coin that as out of the question," Her humor died out rather quickly upon the next sentence, "There was a point, probably my only point of sanity under Lucifer, where I realized how dangerous my entanglement was to him. At the height of my power, I created this athame in the event where I would have to kill him before he killed me. I came close a few times, but I never did what I should have done a long time ago. Eventually, the debate on my actions became to be too much, so I buried it at the nexus point, and tried to forget about its existence."

 

"But you couldn't, could you? Your power never slipped your mind." Lilith worried her lip again, a very attractive trait but Zelda could tell from the bruising on her bottom lip that it was a nervous, and frequent habit.

 

"Not for a second. Every day I yearned for my power, for my choice. It was a stupid and selfish thing of me to do to hide part of me away."

 

"But no matter," She continued, "it's time to start."

 

Zelda watched as Lilith drew arcane sigils in the dirt between the two of them. She began to chant, a simple Latin phrase. The High Priestess closed her eyes and listened intently to the inflection of her goddess' voice, observing her power without her eyes, knowing she would get more out of the experience. It was fascinating, Lilith giving her the opportunity to experience who and what she was in such an intimate way.

 

 _ignis_ _revelare_

_per sanguis revelare_

_gladio perierunt_

_iterum inventa_   
  
  


Light filtered through Zelda's closed eyes, and warmth traveled through her almost immediately. Lilith was calling for her athame and Zelda felt called to her as well, tears falling from her eyes without her will. She was not overwhelmed, quite calm actually, in fact, she wasn't sure the tears were hers at all.

 

When she opened her eyes she saw that Lilith had closed hers, and sure enough, there were tears, and frustration and anger rolled off of her but Zelda still remained calm, and so she shared that with Lilith. Wiping away her tears, brushing the droplets that remained on her eyelashes, then gently taking her face in her hands to concentrate her power into the incantation.   
  
  


 

 _et_ _homini potentiam_

_coniugere spiritu_

_et_ _totem_

_et non inveni_

 

Her goddess' words were full of pain, the athame, a symbol of what she gave up. When she buried it deep in the fires of Gehenna, it was the final piece of herself that represented the freedom that she missed deeply, that she physically now had, but not mentally. Crawling out of a situation like that, cleansing it from the mind was about as simple as an Acheron configuration. Zelda would know.

 

"It rejected me." Zelda's hands fell away, and she looked up to the defeated face of Lilith who looked the least confident she had seen her since, well, since she had ever met her personally when Sabrina had performed an exorcism.

 

"We can try again?"  But she shook her head at Zelda's suggestion.

 

"No, if it did not come to me the first time, it won't come to me on any other attempt. Perhaps it has been hidden too long..."

 

"Is there another route to the athame?"  Lilith's left eye scrunched as if she thought, for a split second, of another idea.

 

"No, not a way where anyone survives," She sighed and rubbed the symbols out of the dirt, "There are other ways of killing Lucifer. If he was able to get a hold of Gabriel's horn to open the gates of Hell, who else knows what went missing from Heaven; perhaps I can find Michael's sword..."

 

An idea started forming in Zelda's head, she would get the athame even if Lilith couldn't, but she tabled the idea as she knew Lilith wouldn't approve. Instead, she changed the subject.

 

"You have very beautiful eyes," Lilith laughed a bit sarcastically.

 

"Mary Wardwell has very beautiful eyes, I am just borrowing her appearance."

 

"But it's your soul behind them."

 

"A demon? With a soul? Never took you for a comedian Spellman." It was cheesy but it was working. Lilith who was the most well-versed actress Zelda had ever met was trying but failing to keep the faint smile off of her face she seemed to reserve for her. Shy and small but genuine at least, to what Zelda could decipher.

 

"What were your original eyes like?"

 

"You're rather inquisitive today," Zelda raised her brow, waiting for an answer, "Fine," Lilith pursed her lips, "My eyes were brown, my hair was brown, I was significantly taller than this and also tanner. Fashion sense? Lots of brown rags, not many options in a rocky desert with barely enough vegetation for food"

 

"Your sarcasm is astounding, my queen."

 

"And your insistence on knowing me is scary, my High Priestess."

 

"Well as your High Priestess I have to know these things so I can preach about them, discuss them, understand them. It's all part of being a goddess. You sit on the crown, you deal with the questions." Lilith shrugged in response, and Zelda, knowing she wouldn't share what she did not want to anyway, didn't prod the idea further.

 

"Zelda, may I ask you a question? A personal question?"

 

"Since I've been bombarding you with my own I suppose, in fairness, you may."

 

"Do you still love Blackwood? Despite, well, everything." Zelda scrunched her brows together in disgust.

 

"No, no I never loved him."

 

"Oh." Was Lilith's only response. But Zelda caught on quickly to the war Lilith was having inside herself and sought to remedy the discomfort as much as she could.

 

"However, had I loved him and if I still did, it wouldn't be abnormal. My sister Hilda reminds me most days that the whatever I feel about my experience is okay because those things happened to me, and so I have the right to feel however I want."

 

"Pretty sound advice. Has it helped, have you coped?"

 

"Not all the way, but one day I will be." She found a perch of grass to lay on, tired from dealing with Orion that morning and performing such a powerful spell in the evening. Lilith, surprisingly, laid next to her, probably in need of a break as well.

 

"I hope that is true." Without thought, Zelda took the demoness' hand in her own, simply fascinated by them. She traced patterns on the back of it and on her palm. Weaved her warm fingers through her cold ones.

 

"May I ask you another question? A less stressful one this time," Zelda squeezed her hand gently to prompt her question, "may I kiss you?"

 

Surprised, Zelda sat up to look down at her goddess' rested face.

 

"Why?"

 

"I want to. I'm asking if you want me to." Her eyes fluttered, filtering the sunlight and the glow of Zelda's hair and Zelda, taking comfort in the honesty of her answer, bent down herself to press her lips against the other woman's. Softly against them, experimental even as if Lilith was the first woman she ever kissed or demon, all things far from the truth. She kissed once and then twice, and thrice on the bruised bottom lip as if she could heal it. All the while not releasing their hands joined still between them.

 

There was no obvious spark or anything else that may have been in Hilda's romance novels. But something had occurred without the knowledge of either of them. The kiss was a representation of how they were already interconnected. Zelda, always astute, saw almost clearly how they fit like puzzle pieces; hands clasped between them, bodies almost connected in the grass, _friends._ This connection, however, was precarious and dangerous.

 

Everything they were working towards relied on that balance.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, they make my heart so happy :) 
> 
> realizing I'm making Zelda "only has unhealthy coping mechanisms" Spellman the therapist in this relationship and uh, not sure how that is going to work but lol I'll make it work 
> 
> also, Zelda's confident gay energy and Lilith's panic gay energy is surprisingly in character and now I can't stop thinking about it


	9. The Descent Into Hell is Easy pt. 1

_"Let all that you do be done in love."_

_-1 Corinthians 16:4_

____________   
  
  


When Zelda explained to Hilda that she was going to Hell, she felt as if she put the lid on the coffin.

 

She was scared, of course, absolutely terrified. Zelda knew Lilith meant it when she had explained there was no way to retrieve the sword and survive but Zelda, determined, decided she was too stubborn to die so she would give it a shot.

 

It was an agonizing few days trying to find a way to map her trek through the underworld, figuring out where the dagger was exactly as to limit her time within the war zone that was Hell. Her first descent to the river had been peaceful but Zelda wasn't an idiot and she figured there were residents who disapproved of Lilith's queenship and her High Priestess would be a yummy prize indeed if caught.

 

That wasn't an option.

 

So she took a blank piece of paper, recreated the sigils on the cardinal directions of the page, placed a compass in the center, and repeated the incantation until dark ink appeared on the page in front of her. As the lines moved, she recognized only two areas; the river and the main entrance in the mines. The latter, she realized, would be impossible to go through if she didn't want to get caught.

 

"Sister," Hilda came in, a pair of her gardening boots in hand for Zelda to borrow, "are you absolutely sure about this?"

 

Zelda clipped her belt together around jeans she also never wore.

 

"Do I have another choice?"

 

"Lilith could go get it."

 

"She won't try-"

 

"So you will? What if you die?" Very rarely would Hilda be crossed with Zelda so upfront, and she knew it was because her sister was scared for her, but she didn't have the time to twiddle her thumbs about decisions that meant life or death for more than just her.

 

"Then you do what you've always done. You'll take care of Sabrina and Ambrose, of Leticia and the coven. You'll be fine, all of you will."

 

"Zelda-"

 

"Enough of this, Hilda. Don't make this harder for me than it already is." The redhead closed her eyes tight, trying to refocus herself on the task. The quest depended on her survival, she had to safely bring Lilith the athame, and she couldn't do that dead. It was in everyone's best interest that she lived.

 

Though she knew the chance was very slim.

 

"I am being rational, and you throwing yourself to the forefront of this war seems like, like-"

 

"A cry for help? It's not. In case you've been living under the building this entire time, we're in the middle of a war! It's not about me or Lilith, it's about more than that."

 

"Like what?"

 

"Like-family? For instance. I'm not, I _won't_ have my selfishness put all of you in danger again." Zelda did not linger on her own words for long, instead, filling up her ruck-sack with a book of spells she'd remembered by that point in her life, her charms, any other demon-fighting tools she knew she had...

 

"It is not your fault, what that monster did to us, while you were indisposed. You helped us in the end, you returned to that horrible situation to give us a fighting chance at saving Ambrose. You have to stop trying to prove, whatever you are trying to prove, to us. It isn't necessary. We are your family first and your coven second. Your safety's the most important thing."

 

Zelda bit the inside of her cheek, unsure of how to respond. The knowledge in her head and the feelings in her heart often conflicted- and she knew, _Lilith_ did she know, that she was loved. She wasn't blind to it, had never been if she was honest. Zelda wouldn't take it for granted anymore either which, if she was honest, was the reason she would be trekking through Hell within the next few hours.

 

Anything for family, that's what Edward taught her.

 

"You're my sister, I know you love me and want me safe. And you've always been there with the best advice, even when I didn't take it. Please understand that this is one of those moments where I can't take the advice. But it's different this time, I'm really not being selfish with my decision. And I'm sorry that it hurts you."

 

The alarm clock went off, startling them both from their conversation.

 

"I have to go, I'll see you soon."

 

__________

 

Zelda found an alternative gate and it wasn't terribly difficult to open which was more concerning than satisfying if she was being honest with herself. But she swept the thought away as she entered Hell, holding her breath for any unfriendly demon appearances. There were none, however. More importantly, there wasn't much of anything. Just an astoundingly bare cave, water drops complimenting the rhythm of her footsteps, and an old, musty smell that made her feel a peculiar kind of loneliness. Like this specific part of Hell had been abandoned.

 

Her map scraped against the pocket of her backpack as she pulled it out, trying to establish her grounds. A light pulsated like a _you are here_ sign, and lines snaked across the pages pointing directly to where the athame was. Now that she was on the same playing grounds, she could clearly see it was in the middle of some fortified fortress.

 

Great, just her luck.

 

There were whispers too, all around the cave, souls lost and bound in the etches of the walls. Those voices, and impending nausea, Zelda swallowed down. There was no time to be tricked by Hell's spirits.

 

So she journeyed on.

 

The sojourn was an uninterrupted one for one or maybe two hours. There was no time keeping here, she quickly realized that the minutes blended together making it hard to know much of anything. She wondered, quite randomly, what Hilda was doing. Feeling like the inquisitive younger sister more and more these days as Hilda grew into the person Zelda relied on the heaviest. It was a nice distraction from the fear she felt gnawing inside her. Not like she wanted to run into any demons, but it was similar to when one of Hilda's spiders got loose; when you saw where it was, you felt less nervous about it.

 

"Did you hear about the witch wars?"

 

"Who didn't hear about the wars? It's all falling apart upstairs..." Zelda stayed still, quiet, figuring she was relatively concealed after considering the location of the voices.

 

"It's Lilith v Lucifer, who has your bet?"

 

"Lucifer? I thought the Spellman child took care of Him..." The other demon laughed.

 

"Please, Egor, if that were the case Lilith wouldn't have everyone up in arms. The security has increased tenfold since yesterday. And, you didn't answer my question."

 

"I don't pick sides, I wait to see who wins and try not to get thrown into the flames."  Moving deeper into the shadows to avoid being seen, she watched them, two very ugly things traipsing together in soldiers' armor.

 

"Zelda?" Surprised, the witch in question turned around, her confusion written clearly across her face, "what are you doing here?" 

 

"Constance?"

 

"How did you manage to get through the gates? They've been locked for weeks. No spirits or demons in or out. It's a mess down here, and I heard you were High Priestess now?"

 

"Yes, I am, and the situation is similarly strenuous up above I'm afraid." Constance folded her hands, a nervous mannerism she carried with her from when she was alive.

 

"I suppose we have much to discuss then." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting ready for college is so stressful like please tell me I am not the only one who made five lists of what to pack? Why am I such a procrastinator omg


	10. The Descent Into Hell is Easy pt. 2

_"And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."_

_2 Corinthians 11:13_

__________

 

Perhaps it was three days that passed of them traveling deeper into Hell, following Zelda's map and Constance's insight as well as they could. Constance said nothing, asked nothing that strayed from the topic of location or topography, but Zelda knew she had questions, saw them teeming in her eyes, threatening to spill from her lips. Maybe, if Zelda did not feel the effects of Hell upon her so heavily, she would've prompted them out of the witch.

 

"Unholy shit Zelda, your nose." The taste of copper filled her mouth, it rotted like death on her senses. Her hand went to her face and pulled away with blood.

 

"Gods..."

 

"Sit, you must sit. Here" Constance sat Zelda down on the side of the ridge they were on, on the outskirts of one of the many cities in Hell which, in itself, was steps away from where spirits and demons were tortured. "Now there has to be a cloth of some sort in your bag, and water, you'll need more water..." Constance applied pressure with a spare shirt from Zelda's bag, ruffling through more items until she found a small water bottle, only half full of the needed liquid.

 

"We'll need to get you more."

 

"Where can we find water in Hell," Zelda asked, genuinely confused.

 

"This place is much more complicated than you believe, Spellman. I know a witch who resides here who might be willing to help, but it won't be easy to get to her."

 

"Who's she?" Constance's brow quivered at the thought, but determination showed in her eyes, a determination to not let Zelda die, not while she seemed to still have a purpose.

 

"Circe. She isn't very nice, and most times she extracts a price for her help. But maybe this time she'll be helpful." Zelda stood up from the ridge, wiping the remains of blood from her nose. Her hand was covered in it reminding her of the stain of the pomegranate against her skin in the garden. She always seems to go back there, to the beginning of this whole journey.

 

Zelda built the church and now she had to save it, so even if it took three more days to convince Circe to help them, to help her survive this, then she would.

 

"Alright, then we should go quickly. I'm tired of traipsing around Hell."

 

"Circe is in the middle of this city, her building is hard to find. inconspicuous for someone so...glamorous."

 

"Do you have a plan?"'

 

"A horrible one, banking on the fact that most down here keep their heads down. We aren't necessarily in enemy territory, but no one trusts the person next to them. If anyone; demon, witch, spirit or otherwise think that you're suspicious, they might raise an alarm."

 

"And I suppose enemies lurk all places in Hell."

 

"Exactly, if they figure you out it's a quick kidnapping." Zelda scrunched her nose in thought.

 

"Maybe I could use a glamour, to make myself look like a demon for just long enough to get to Circe's."

 

"In your state, you won't be able to sustain a full-body glamour for long."

 

"I won't have to, look," Zelda felt like she was in one of Ambrose's games where a mage comes at just the right moment to make an idiotic plan miraculously work. A stray demon, hiking aimlessly amongst the rocks and most importantly alone, muttering to themselves, crazed. They carried a cloak over their shoulders and it dragged in the rocks behind them.

 

"You'll rob this poor demon of their garment? Zelda, I'm not so sure..."

 

"I'm borrowing it, there's nothing wrong with borrowing something you need if it's a life-saving mission that you promised you'd help me with. Besides, I don't want to hear about your moral judgment when you put Prudence up to be the queen of feasts because she maybe _could've_ been a threat to you."

 

"That's not fair, I'm a different person now. And you of all witches should know the circumstances I was under." It was hard to ignore the hurt Constance held on her features. She was right, Zelda did know- more intimately now than ever- her circumstances. She held her tongue, it wasn't the time for a heart to heart.

 

"Oh thank the gods!" That startled both of them, the cloaked figure stumbled towards them now, falling over themselves in a rush. Their voice sounded very feminine.

 

"Thank the gods for what, demon?" Constance asked, stepping in front of Zelda almost protectively. "What are you on about?"

 

"The gods bless this day, this beautiful day! The savior is here to redeem us all! Beautiful you are, beautiful!" She was very clearly talking to Zelda who in this case, felt about as beautiful as one of the demons that resided here, half her face covered in blood.

 

"Redeem you?" Zelda finally spoke, "Lilith redeems you, she saved you from Lucifer." The demon shook their face with such ferocity, Zelda believed her head would fall off from the force.

 

"She cannot save us. He rises again and soon, claws have crawled up from the cage, I've seen it with my own eye-"

 

"Zelda we should go, this demon obviously isn't in their right mind,"

 

"No, no we should listen," The high priestess stepped in front of Constance now, determined to get answers from the demon, "You've seen him? And when did he crawl from the cage, at what time?"

 

"In some days time, he will, and the earth and Hell will shake. But you have the chance to stop it, to kill him."

 

"I'm trying to stop it now, please, help me," Zelda pleaded, "There's a place I need to get to in the city, but I'm an obvious target if I go down there without a disguise, anyone could recognize me."

 

"You don't ask your goddess for help?" Zelda shook her head.

 

"She told me not to because she believes this mission is too dangerous, but I am desperate to help her, despite the fact that she wants to do this on her own. But Lilith needs me, so she'll have me."

 

"Here," The demon said, removing her cloak with shaking fingers, "cover yourself in this traveler, and I pray you to reach your destination and save your goddess, may the gods be with you."

 

"And with you too, thank you."

 

"You shouldn't have entertained that," Zelda wrapped the cloak around her shoulders, carefully putting the hood over herself. The demon disappeared somewhere over the rocks, "They could turn around and betray you."

 

"I'm not concerned about betrayal, they'll know I am here soon enough when we get to the fortress to retrieve the athame. The demon's words chill me, however. If they are right, Lucifer rises soon, and that is not something I am prepared for."

 

"No one is, not even Lilith. She's terrified."

 

"I'm happy she shares all of her concerns with me, her high priestess. She must've known about this, gods she's so frustrating!" Constance smiled knowingly but didn't press the issue further.

 

"We should get going before it gets late, the soldiers will come out soon and then our likely hood of being caught skyrockets." Zelda grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder under the cloak to conceal it.

 

"I'm following you."

 

__________

 

Being in the middle of a war zone didn't seem t stop the general hustle and bustle of Hell's own metropolis. If Zelda got bumped into one more time she would be very tempted to use the last bits of her energy to turn one of these demons to dust.

 

They walked for twenty minutes before they reached the edge point of the city, only a few buildings sprawled but it did not take long until they clumped together, and the jointness of free-flowing people grew concentrated through the streets.

 

"Try not to look up too much, make sure your hair is under the cap."

 

"Understood."

 

"She isn't that far away, five more minutes. Fates just give us five more minutes." That last part wasn't meant for Zelda to hear but it wasn't lost on her. There was a collection of patrolmen, all wearing Lilith's insignia- not that it gave her any comfort, huddle around the center of a pavilion. It was an obvious checkpoint. So much for five more minutes.

 

"Let's cut left," Zelda suggested. "Go around them and then get to Circe's without getting caught."

 

"Left takes us out of the way, but it's safer than going through- or right."

 

"What's right?" Zelda asked as Constance veered them left, cutting in between disgruntled demons.

 

"We'll be there soon enough, just not today."

 

They evaded the guards with ease despite the lingering anxiety that was produced from seeing them in the first place, Constance knocked furiously on the door once they got to the steep of it, and a woman of a tall stature opened it, slightly annoyed. 

 

"Constance, you brought a fugitive to my house." Zelda raised her eyebrow but didn't say anything as she was not in the place to do so. 

 

"Zelda is hardly a fugitive, Circe."

 

"Then why is she walking around huddled in some dirty demon's robe taking back roads to avoid the patrol team down the block?"

 

"You're very perceptive," Zelda interjected.

 

"Honey," Circe answered, "I'm a thousand years old witch who survived _ancient Greece_ of all places, I base my immortal life on perceptiveness." 

 

"Circe, we really need your help, and I'm sure Zelda will find a way to repay you for your services." Circe drummed her fingers against the door frame.

 

"Alright, since the poor witch looks close to death I suppose I will help you both,"

 

"Thank you," they said, relieved.

 

"But remember, Zelda, I always collect my debts." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a new chapter :) school is kicking my ass lmao


	11. Circe

_" Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered."_

_Hebrews 5:8_

____________

 

Zelda was desperate to live, so she did not register in her mind what type of repayment she would be inclined to give once she was healed. The way Constance was looking at her since they stepped through the threshold made her a little nervous and she did not doubt that Circe collected what was owed to her. 

 

"Now Hell sickness is a tedious thing, dangerous too. Almost always lethal," Circe sat close to Zelda, close enough to make her uncomfortable, "But, we can limit the gravity of it until you complete your quest. Then once you get back up to the surface it should all... disappear. Like magic." Circe winked like it was an inside joke only the two of them were apart of. 

 

"What should I do? To heal it..." 

 

"Oh, darling, you just rest and let me handle it. A simple potion will do, to keep you moving, keep you strong," Circe observed her table before plucking up a fresh sage leaf from the myriad of plants in the middle of it, "Chew on this for a bit, should clear up your system nicely; banish the bad spirits." 

 

Zelda did what she was told, her fever feeling worse even with all of Circe's woolen blankets around her, while the sorceress began the potion that already smelled overwhelmingly of mint. 

 

"It is a very brave thing you're both doing, although a bit idiotic." 

 

"What do you mean?" The witch asked around her mouth full of sage. 

 

"Well, you fight so hard for someone you can't be sure will win. You and I both know Lucifer will return soon. He isn't dead." Zelda wished Constance hadn't retired herself upstairs, she wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation with Circe. The sorceress wouldn't' start doubts in her mind about her goddess, but Zelda would be lying if she hadn't been holding doubts about the war itself. 

 

"And the gods know, Lilith can't protect everyone. Though she'll try," Circe sighed, "She's got that annoying quality about her now. Patrolling this, protecting them... I thought it was that blonde little girl's influence but after meeting you, maybe I was wrong." 

 

"That _blonde little girl_ is my niece." 

 

"Then it definitely comes from you, here," She placed the mint smelling drink in the redhead's hand. It was Blanche white, like cough syrup, but went down smooth like milk at her tentative taste. 

 

"Thank you for your help, Circe, I appreciate it."

 

"Of course. Afterall there's much to gain from this moment of charity. Much to gain indeed." 

 

Zelda pushed her uneasiness further aside, taking more sips of her potion already feeling the buzzing effects of the magic. She was becoming more tired by the minute, succumbing to the draught like potencies of whatever was put into the drink. If she was panicking, she couldn't register it. 

 

"Now tell me, High Priestess, your coalition on earth, is it as organized as Hell's? It seems daunting to have such a small church fight against the forces of Lucifer..." 

 

"We managed fine before when there were less than half of the church fighting against him." Of course, they had a network of sorts now. Dorcas and Agatha had been making connections to the churches of the old world, and many of them were willing to fight when the time came. But Zelda would not disclose any of that information. 

 

"I hope you are strong enough to succeed." 

 

"We will be," Zelda assured Circe, "otherwise I wouldn't have taken the chance of coming down to Hell at all if I thought it was hopeless."

 

"Somehow I doubt that." The other witch took the cup from Zelda's hands and placed it on the table. The conversation was over, Zelda was exhausted, and Circe- she figured- felt she was getting nowhere. "You don't need much of the potion, you've drunk enough. You should rest now." 

 

Taking her advice, Zelda rested her head on one side of the couch, still surrounded by the woolen blankets that felt more suffocating by the minute. She felt it necessary to ward her brain in case Circe got any bright ideas. Eventually, she drifted off to the sound of dripping water coming from somewhere among the plants, but thought nothing of it. 

 

__________

 

She knew she was dreaming the minute she opened her eyes. 

 

Zelda saw Lilith, quill gripped tightly in her hand so much that her knuckles turned white; anger flaring evidently in her blue eyes. 

 

"I heard a... curious little rumor that your High Priestess is traipsing around Hell." A young woman materialized around the corner; tall, graceful, and dangerous. All dark curls and tan skin illuminated by hellfire. "But of course, those are just rumors." 

 

"Dangerous ones as you should know, child. What have you come here for? To torment me?"

 

"Oh mother, tormenting you is one of my favorite games to play but, both of us know there is no time for that. Tell me, when will Lucifer come crawling from his rotting cage? When will the Dark Lord break free of those flimsy little chains you believed would work?" 

 

The quill snapped in Lilith's hand. 

 

"I am well aware of the imminent threat." Her Queen's voice was low, calculated. Nostrils flared slightly, and that evasive moment of fear tinged on the edge of her gaze. An emotion Zelda became an expert at detecting on Lilith.

 

"Well, you came into my office with concerns, perhaps you would find it fulfilling to come up with some solutions."

 

"I can find Zelda Spellman for you." There was a pause, an uncertainty that crossed Lilith's face. 

 

"You would do that?"

 

"It is no good if we are ill-equipped to deal with Lucifer, she is obviously needed. I do not want that monster to return, and though I doubt your sincerity more times than not: since proclaiming yourself as queen I must admit that there is humanity about you now. Like maybe somewhere deep inside your rotting core you have a working heart. A little bent, a little broken, but nothing irreparable."  

 

"I live for your confidence in me, Avnas." The sarcasm wasn't lost on the demon of flames, a smile crossed her face; seemingly innocent though Zelda was unconvinced.

 

"Please mother, call me Amy." 

 

__________ 

 

Constance hovered over Zelda when she woke up, shaking her arm fervently like they were being hunted. If Zelda's dream was anywhere near correct, they technically were. 

 

"It's time to go. Circe will wake up soon and then there'll be heaven to pay."

 

"Constance, what-?"

 

"She was reading your mind, spying! I may have hit her over the head with one of her broomsticks..." 

 

"Oh _gosh_ , Constance. Thank you but, I don't want this to come back to you." 

 

"Feel worse for her. Once Lilith finds out what Circe's been up to, she won't be an issue." Zelda placed her hand gingerly over her forehead, the poison that Circe put in her cup making her head fuzzy and unfocused. 

 

"Lilith is going to kill me... we've been here too long. One of her children, Av- _Avnas_  is on her way looking for us now." Constance cursed under her breath. 

 

"Then we need to get that Athame before Avnas finds us, she is not a kind demon."

 

"You know her?" Zelda asked as she pushed the blankets off of herself, grabbing the cloak that rested over the back of the couch.

 

"Not personally, but she is one of the greater demons. According to legend, she used to be a priest, dressed as a man of course. But she turned away from the false god after she had a dream. A revelation from Lilith that called her to the dark path. Avnas is loyal to Lilith to an extent, hated the Dark Lord and his rule. But they've had their fair share of issues over the last couple hundreds of years. I believe Avnas got tired of watching Lilith parade around the Dark Lord when she was told the dark path would give her equality as a woman." 

 

Zelda was deep in thought as she pushed her feet into her boots. If Avnas wanted Lilith to be queen as much as Zelda did, their issues aside, maybe she could be useful towards getting the Athame. If this demon was as powerful as Constance made her out to be... 

 

"We should summon her."

 

"What? Zelda did you not listen to what I just said?" 

 

"I did. I think she'll help us. Besides, if what she wants is power, then this Athame is the key to it right?"

 

"Great, so she'll kill us and take the Athame for herself. You're full of smart moves today." 

 

"She wouldn't. She has much more to gain by complying with Lilith. Besides, the Athame only responds to Lilith. It's connected to her, her power." 

 

"Then how will you retrieve it? If it is so connected to Lilith." Zelda blushed immediately, throat dry from the embarrassment. She wasn't ashamed of talking about her connection to Lilith but, it was uncomfortable discussing it with outsiders. It was too intimate.

 

"Lilith extended some of her power to me because she wanted me to be safe from my enemies. She told me that it was in case I needed her but she couldn't physically be there. Well, we certainly can't have her here or else she'd drag my ass back to Greendale. I'm hoping that she gave me enough where it will respond to me." Zelda did not like the presumptuous smirk that Constance held on her face; as if she figured out a puzzle she'd stared at for hours and finally found the missing piece. 

 

"What?" Zelda responded defensively.  

 

"Nothing," She grabbed a summoning weave from the collection of Circe's things; Enochian inscriptions written down the sides. "If you insist on summoning Avnas, we will need this to do it. Summoning circles don't work in Hell, this is what we use." 

 

Zelda nodded, shrugging the cloak over her shoulders, shaking the last dregs of exhaustion off of her body as the prospect of finally finishing her mission made her nervous in the pit of her stomach. 

 

" Let's go."

 

__________

 

_aquilo, meridianam, orientem, occidens_

_quadrum inferni, quadram inferni_

_ad centro animam malam sunt_

_daemonium avnae avnas_

_igni Dominus_

_et princeps flammae_

 

No sooner had Constance finished her spell, wrapping the remaining gold coil around the summoning web, flames burst from the tool, melting the steel into a puddle at Constance's feet.

 

"How sweet of you to summon me, child of the moon. You've cut my t _our de enfer_ in half." 

 

"Avnas, master of the flames." 

 

"Oh!" The demoness exclaimed excitedly. "Pretty _and_ smart, no wonder my mother was so adamant about me finding you. Why she chose such an emotionally unstable, _weak_ thing to be her High Priestess, well... the Fates only know." 

 

"Avnas, that's quite enough," Constance spoke, though her voice wavered as flaming brown eyes tore through her soul. 

 

"And you Constance Blackwood, you are quite a long way away from your post." 

 

"We need your help," Zelda interjected before Avnas could spew any more poison from her red painted lips. "Your mother, our Queen, she needs our help. I came here to retrieve her Athame so she can defeat Lucifer. Please, you're a powerful demon who wants her mother on the throne as much as Constance and I do. I'm sure you'll be well awarded for your service."

 

"Or I'll be whipped within an inch of my life for disobeying her direct orders to drag your ass out of Hell. How much of an idiot do you think I am Spellman? If we go retrieve the Athame, we die. If I don't get the both of you far away from the fortress of doom a mile away, I die. Why do you think getting this tool will be helpful in the first place? Did she ask for your help? Did she send you on this suicide mission?"

 

"Well... no," Zelda replied, feeling like a reprimanded child. 

 

"Then why in my mother's name do you want to make a martyr out of yourself?" Zelda didn't have a good reply, so she stood shuffling from foot to foot, her borrowed cloaked feeling more uncomfortable by the second. 

 

"Because you're still scared, right?" Constance spoke, confident in her answer. "And I know this because I'm still scared, Zelda. That's okay, you know that right?" Zelda tried to hide her tears behind the wall she had been building up for as long as she could remember, but it was no use.

 

"We have to defeat them, Constance. I have to be ready for when he comes back. And Lilith, I can't let her fight Lucifer without at least trying. And Leticia and Judas, everyone really."

 

"Leticia and Judas?" 

 

"Your children, Constance. I'm so sorry." Zelda was sure Constance was not expecting an embrace from the once cold Zelda Spellman, but Zelda knew about caring for children: about _losing_ them. It felt appropriate. And there was so much shared trauma between these two women. 

 

"My children?" Constance whispered like she was chasing a memory wiped away with her death. "The twins, Zelda, how are they faring?" 

 

"Oh Leticia, she's just the sweetest girl. She's two now, they both are. Blackwood kidnapped them after he poisoned the coven. We found the girl, she's with my sister now. But Judas," Zelda shook her head mournfully, "We are still looking, Ambrose and Prudence have been looking over a year now. But we will find him, I promise. And I will look after them as you would have. I give you my word." 

 

"Thank you, Zelda, I can't thank you enough for doing your best to protect them." 

 

"I made you a promise, didn't I?" Zelda thought back to the hysterics that Constance showed during her tenuous pregnancy, scared of what Faustus would do, scared of the harm that would come to them or herself. 

 

"Sun and _moon,_ I'll help you so long as I never have to look at such a display again. You witches, so emotional, it's disgusting." The two witches turned to an unamused Avnas, her toned arms crossed over her chest, thick brows scrunched in annoyance. "Well hurry up, let's rip this bandage off." 

 

Without hesitation, Zelda and Constance followed the demoness up the road towards their final destination. Both women feeling assured in their newfound friendship. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, long time no see! I just got done with finals and decided to reread through the story to see where I wanted to go as I was stuck for a while. I think this break will be good for my creativity. I do a lot at my University so I think I needed a break so I could have energy to write jaja. Well I hope you enjoy and I can't wait until part 3 on January 24th! I'm praying for Madam Spellman content... we can only pray Roberto delivers xD


	12. Hellfire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be fooled, Avnas is not as straight as you think xD

_"Of the angels, he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”_

_Hebrew 1:7_

 

__________

 

Zelda had been confident up until this point, hiding behind a rock with Constance and Avnas looking at the daunting building in front of her. She tied her hair in a knot and tried to figure out a plan of action they could go about without too much trouble. But her mind felt blank. 

 

"Are you ready to call it quits, witch?"

 

"I'm thinking we should call reinforcements." 

 

"No," Zelda responded. "We can't make ourselves obvious. We get in, we get the Athame, we leave." 

 

"And how do you suppose we do that, Spellman?" Avnas asked, her eyes rolling as they had done a hundred times thus far. "Let's waltz in there as if we belong, maybe create a distraction! Yes, that won't be obvious at all." Constance raised an eyebrow at the demoness' outburst. 

 

"Well, could you create a distraction?" Avnas closed her eyes tightly, probably questioning her decision to help. 

 

"Alright, I suppose I can. But you have to be quick, else we'll get caught and our heads will be the property of Caliban."

 

"Who is Caliban?" 

 

"A prince of Hell," Constance answered. 

 

"A cute one at that," 

 

" _Avnas_." The demoness rolled her eyes. 

 

"I can be pretty distracting. And he's such a flirt I'm sure his guard will be down if I give him a reason to. Then the two of you can try and sneak through the back, past the guards. If you manage to actually call the Athame to you Spellman, in which I'd be very impressed, then you sneak back out." 

 

"And we say the incantation that summons you so you know when we are far enough away from Caliban's castle," Zelda reminded. 

 

"Exactly. I'll meet up with you and hopefully, we get the damn thing to my mother so we can stop worrying about it." They summarized their plan in so many words, and Zelda was anxious to begin. 

 

"Well," Avnas started, "Now's a better time than never." With a grace, only the demoness possessed at this moment, she walked freely towards the doors of the palace; thankfully and warmly greeted by one of the demon guards out front. Avnas described how many demons had taken no side in this war so, despite her connections to Lilith (which were unknown to many in Hell- including the Prince), Caliban wouldn't think anything of her sojourn to this part of Hell. 

 

At least not until after Avnas aided them in retrieving the Athame, inconveniently buried under the hellstone that made up the floorboards. 

 

Constance and Zelda walked the perimeter until they found the back doors, a singular guard looking very bored hanging out by the entrance.

 

"When she said he keeps his guard down..."

 

"Fast worker." Zelda winked. "How are we going to get him away from the door? I can't do much, my magic is down and I need to save it for the spell..." 

 

"We don't need magic. Watch." Constance picked up a stone next to her foot and tossed it hard in the opposite direction. She looked quite proud of herself when the guard sprung up and ran towards the imaginary threat. "Simple guard, simple solution." 

 

"I'll try and remember that." 

 

They ran into no trouble since entering the building, bright blue and gold stucco greeting them, paintings of tortured souls adorned the walls. It was a bright aesthetic for Hell, but every demon had their own taste. They walked for some time feeling out the place, but Zelda knew that wandering around aimlessly for much longer trying to look for the nexus point in Hell would start to give them the attention they did not want. From what she could gather, they were on one of the higher floors of the castle, floor two or three. But the Athame was deeper than Hell itself, they would have to go to the lowest point. 

 

"If you had to take a guess on how to get to the basement from here, where would you start walking?" Constance's brows knit together, trying to think about where they could go. 

 

"Well, most of the architecture in Hell is pretty similar, stairs are always at the corners, at the very least it would get us closer to the Athame. The issue is getting to where it's buried; maybe try reaching out to it to see if it responds?"  

 

"I don't want to draw too much attention to the Athame, let's try getting closer and then I'll summon it."

 

They continued their trek, going down long corridors and excessive amounts of steps. Sweat broke out on Zelda's brow and her throat constricted uncomfortably. She swallowed the dryness away, following closely behind Constance. The coast had been clear thus far, but there was a suspicious lack of guards anywhere, the other shoe was bound to drop at any moment. 

 

"Zelda, I think this may be it." Constance moved to the right so the other witch could get through. The magic here was suffocating, distorted runes lined the walls and floors, snaking like poisoned tree roots. But she felt her here too. All of her anger and frustration and pain coalescing in the floorboards, in the ground underneath. 

 

"I think you're right." 

 

"Hold it right there, Spellman." Ah, there were the guards. "We've been expecting you." Caliban, Zelda presumed, came through the opposite doors, Avnas beside him with chains on her wrist. She raised her joined hands in a mock hello. Her eyebrows raised in an _I told you so._

 

 _"_ Caliban..." 

 

"That's my name," He winked. "I'll save you the speech, you already know it was senseless to try and sneak in here. But since you showed up, please, have a seat." Two guards with two chairs came, forcing Constance and Zelda to sit across from the prince. The room bubbled with heat, Zelda breathed out of her nose. 

 

"Why don't you bind us?" She asked, "Since we are effectively prisoners." 

 

"Because silly witch, you're going to die soon anyway with the Hell sickness and all." Caliban smiled, his blue eyes flashing with glee. "And you both are my guests, that's not very hospitable of me to chain you up like poor Avnas over here." 

 

"You disgust me." The demoness replied. 

 

"And you broke my trust, baby. You know how to get that Athame and you haven't shared that information with me. I'm getting a bit impatient." 

 

"You want the Athame, Caliban? Well, when you figure out how to get it you can shove it up your ass." Caliban shot up from his chair, Zelda and Constance flinched for Avnas who seemed unaffected by his display of anger. Like this was a game they were used to playing. 

 

"You don't mean that." He took her chin in one of his hands, Zelda wasn't sure whether it was meant to be threatening or not, as gentle as it looked. "You deserve to be queen, Avnas. Both of us can rule Hell together if you help me."

 

"You want to bring Lucifer back, Caliban. That's why you want the Athame so bad."

 

"No, of course, I don't want to do that!" The rest of their conversation tuned out as Zelda tried to concentrate on feeling for the weapon. She closed her eyes, tracing the familiar runes on the arm of her chair, whispering the spell under her breath. The temperature rose again, no one else seemed to notice. 

 

"Zelda, what are you doing?" 

 

"Shh, give me a moment." She focused harder, picturing how she felt in the woods when Lilith had shared her power with her at the first attempt to summon it. Tears pulled in her eyes, full of raw emotion. She couldn't tell if she was drowning or floating. Someone was sure to notice how hot the room was by now. 

 

She crawled to the center of the room weakly, the floor burned the skin on her hands, she didn't care. It bubbled like molten lava, but a handle was just visible beneath the surface. She repeated the incantation again, reaching her hand to grab the hilt, fine curves of silver pressing into the flesh of her skin. 

 

"Oh shit." She heard Constance say. 

 

Zelda stood shakily, the Athame- about a foot long-  covered in blue flames as it reforged itself. The handle was black silver, the intricated design of three snakes interwoven against themselves. The blade shone like moonstone, showing her image, her eyes black in the reflection like a demon. 

 

"Hand it over, witch. That's not yours to play with." Caliban's face darkened. The energy from the blade distorting his face as well as the other demons. Avnas' face melted on one side, though the beautiful side of her face remained one in shock. 

 

"I don't think so, Caliban. This isn't yours to play with either." Even her voice sounded different, ancient and smooth without the rough edges years of smoking gave her. 

 

"This isn't a game Spellman, give it now." The prince tried to walk towards her, but Avnas wrapped her chained hands around his neck. 

 

"Demon chains came back to bite you, didn't they?" Zelda ignored the inhuman growl that came from the frustrated demon, turning her attention to the few guards that were around. 

 

"Lilith thanks you tonight for keeping her precious Athame so safe under your home," She offered a sarcastic smile, "Unfortunately, this digression of reaching for the throne has made me a little less forgiving than perhaps Lilith would be." She twirled the Athame around in her hand, the power trip coming with a vengeance, and how delicious it would feel. More intense than her sermon in the clearing by the mortuary where she killed those Judas boys without so much as a blink. She had an idea. 

 

"This insubordination needs punishment, a cleansing. I was baptized in fire, reborn in it. Shouldn't we all get the same chance? Of rebirth?" 

 

"What are you on about, witch?" A brave guard in the middle asked. Zelda licked her lips before responding. 

 

"It means: you are all going to burn." 

 

Blue flames licked the floor, tendrils consuming the guards, even Caliban writhed on the floor, Avnas looking in awe at the scene. Screams sounded, rattling in Zelda's brain, and she relished in them. In the smell of fire, and the warmth of the room that made her hair stick to her neck and the sides of her face. The walls burned too, melting gold and blue foil fell to the ground, unearthing the ugly foundation underneath.

 

 The screams subsided as did the fire after a few moments, ash falling beautifully around them like rain. Zelda glanced at her hands, there were no burn marks like she expected from the pain she felt earlier. 

 

"I did say I would be impressed." The demoness to her right, loose of her chains, held an impressed look on her now fully formed face. No trace of the demon side evident. "I have to say, the interior design looks better than it did when we first got in here. French Baroque," She scrunched her nose disapprovingly, "Absolutely disgusting."  

 

"I'm not sure what to say," Constance added, blinking the rest of the blackness from her eyes away. "You are definitely full of surprises... how long have you been able to summon hellfire?" Zelda shook her head. 

 

"I've never tried before now, I think maybe it was the Athame." 

 

"Nope, that can't be possible," Avnas answered. "I've talked to my mother on multiple occasions about her Athame, that function was never brought up. It was all you. Not that I'm surprised, your niece summoned hellfire before, maybe it's a Spellman thing?" 

 

"She summoned what?! When?" Constance put her head in her hands. 

 

"Oh," Avnas realized. "You didn't know about that? Hmm, well back when Lilith was following Lucifer's orders she summoned the Greendale thirteen and then convinced Sabrina to sign the Book of the Beast so she would be able to summon hellfire in order to kill them before they killed the town. But the Book of the Beast doesn't _really_  give you any power, it just gives your soul to Lucifer..."

 

"Maybe this is something you can talk about with our Queen later," Constance interrupted. "Right now, you must be getting back to Greendale." 

 

"But I need to return the Athame first."

 

"It's best if you take it home, my mother will retrieve it from you later. Now get out of here, Spellman, I'll clean up this mess and get word back to headquarters, as they say. She'll meet you soon, don't worry." 

 

"And I'll take you back to an exit, it's not good for you to be down here much longer." Constance motioned for Zelda to follow. "C'mon, Avnas has it covered." Zelda put the Athame unceremoniously into her backpack, slinging it over her shoulders before going to follow the other witch. 

 

"Avnas?" She stopped to turn back to the demoness who was looting Caliban of his crown. 

 

"Yes, Spellman?" 

 

"Thank you for helping us. We couldn't have done it without you." A pleased smiled ran across Avnas' face. 

 

"You're most welcome," She answered. "But next time you want to play vigilante, ask another demon for help. I don't get paid enough for this." 

 

"Sure thing." Zelda laughed. Then Constance and she walked to the nearest exit in Hell back to Greendale, the Athame in Zelda's backpack weighing heavily against her shoulders. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okayy so Zelda's a bad bitch and we were already aware!! So the next chapter is actually almost done! I just have to edit it so it'll probably be a two chapter in a day scenario. And we get the Madam Spellman content I have not been serving for a few chapters but, I promise the wait is worth it y'all! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


	13. Lily of the Valley, Drunk on Her Perfume

_"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth – for your love is more delightful than wine."_

_Song of Solomon 1:2_

____________

 

Hilda had put Zelda on bedrest despite her arguments against it. She felt fine, more than fine if she was honest with herself. Her body hummed with the energy she untapped in Caliban's basement, making her sensitive, longing the one special demoness who had yet to arrive and pick up her Athame, though it had been three days since her return from Hell.

 

"Zelda, you're looking well. Vibrant." Blue eyes burned into Zelda's skin, boring into her soul.

 

"Lilith..."

 

"Don't get up," The woman replied, halting Zelda in her tracks. Instead she met her, sitting in the center of the bed, closer than Zelda had anticipated from her. Delicate fingers tracing the angles of the redhead's face, her thumb tracing softly over her bottom lip. 

 

"Are you upset with me?" Lilith shook her head.

 

"No, just concerned. You're so warm as if... as if there were flames underneath your skin." Zelda's eyes dipped at the contact she was receiving. Lilith moved even closer as if entranced, Zelda felt more entranced by her. 

 

"Is that a bad thing?" Zelda whispered against the skin of Lilith's wrist, breathing in her unique scent. 

 

"No, not at all."  A beat passed between them, the tension was drawn out, a new type of silence forming between them. 

 

"I have your Athame, it's safe, ready for you." 

 

"I know," Lilith moved to kiss her forehead, the dimple on her cheek, and down to her lips where Zelda finally closed the distance. All the firey energy she felt the last few days rush to her core, her hands tangling immediately to dense curls, nails scratching lightly against her scalp. The demoness moved down her jaw, and her lips burned like hellfire against the skin of Zelda's neck. Teeth nipping lightly, playfully against her sensitive curve. Not enough to leave a mark, but enough for the witch to understand that Lilith wanted to. Then, a hand moved against her inner thigh, thumb caressing gently under silk on milky skin. The light pressure was enough to invite the pooling heat to become more intense at her core; but it wasn't where she wanted Lilith, where she needed her to be.

 

"Lilith?" Zelda whispered sharply, concentration slowly slipping.

 

"Yes?" The other woman made her way back up to Zelda's mouth, capturing her bottom lip with her teeth before pulling away. Desperation revealed slightly in her strong voice. "Too much?'

 

 _Too little_. Zelda wanted to reply.

 

"I need you, my queen. I need-" Zelda faltered her words, Lilith's eyes darkening in a dangerous way, a smirk gracing her otherworldly face. Zelda felt extremely small and extremely horny. Damn, she knew what she was doing.

 

"What do you need, my High Priestess?" Lilith asked as she pushed said woman flat against the bed they were on, lifting up the nightgown she wore, kissing languidly against her sternum and down her stomach. "What do you need from your queen?" She skipped where Zelda needed her most, choosing to continue her teasing against each of her thighs, caring less about not leaving marks than she had on her neck just moments earlier.

 

"You know, _mmmm_ , where I need you." Zelda's words interrupted by the sensation of Lilith's thumb ghosting against her clit.

 

"Hmmm," She hummed in fake pensiveness, "I think I need more clarification." Zelda groaned in frustration. She was embarrassed to ask, she knew Lilith would make her beg, and gods was she touched starved...

 

"Look at me Zelda," She couldn't very well do that with the purposeful kiss Lilith gave over her heat, she screwed her eyes shut, biting her bottom lip enough to draw blood. But Lilith wasn't done coaxing. "C'mon, look at me, baby girl. Tell me what you want." Zelda did look this time, positively dripping with her arousal. She bit her bottom lip again before answering.

 

"I need you to fuck me." No sooner had the request been made did Lilith begin to deliver. With a wink, she took the red lace of Zelda's panties between her teeth and dragged them down her legs, kissing her way back up and meeting between Zelda's legs; mouth sucking and an expert tongue dipping between folds.

 

" _Lilith,"_ Zelda moaned, biting her left hand while her right found its way to the mass of Lilith's hair. " _Lily."_ Zelda wasn't registering much but the pleasure between her thighs and the burning sensation thrumming over her entire body. Whatever litany of praises she was throwing towards her goddess was being equally reciprocated in her ministrations.

 

Her thighs tightened, orgasm approaching steadily, and Lilith felt it too. Replacing her mouth with her fingers, two digits curving inside of the younger witch and palm coming to meet her clit as Zelda's hips rocked trying to find release.

 

Zelda wrapped her arms around Lilith's neck who came up meet her, resting her forehead on the demoness' shoulder. Her nails dug into Lilith's neck, she was so close.

 

As if reading her mind, Lilith added a third finger, thumb paying undivided attention to her sensitive bundle of nerves. She took Zelda's ear between her teeth teasingly, her voice smooth and low.

 

"Come for me baby girl." It was enough to send her over the edge, releasing with a groan and a sharp bite digging into soft olive skin. She rode out her orgasm, Lilith pulsing her fingers lazily, doting tender kisses onto Zelda's shoulder as she came down from her high.

 

"Unholy _shit,_ Lilith," Zelda sat against the headboard, removing her arms from Lilith's neck. "That was..." There were no words. The redhead closed her eyes, a contented smile on her face, while Lilith brushed wild red curls away from her face.

 

"So, _Lily_ , huh?" Zelda flushed with embarrassment.

 

"I really said that?" She opened her eyes to gage the other woman's face, not detecting any negative emotion, though her amusement didn't help Zelda lose the redness in her face any faster.

 

"Mmhmm," The demoness kissed the top of one of Zelda's knees, resting her head atop of them, "It was nice, I liked hearing it."

 

There was a curious pang in Zelda's heart at the softness of Lilith's voice, so different from the lust-filled timbre from only minutes before. Her eyes lightened too, clear blue skies full of happiness and relief.

 

"I never thanked you for retrieving my Athame."

 

"I would say I was just properly thanked." The corner of her eyes crinkled in laughter, Zelda thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

 

"I suppose so," then after a beat, "Promise me no more suicide missions? Especially not for me." Zelda swallowed her question and nodded, unsure if she would actually keep that promise. Lilith didn't seem concerned by her half answer and moved off of the bed.

 

"Leaving so soon?"

 

"No," Lilith found the zipper to her dress and pulled down. Zelda swallowed at the prospect of seeing her body, "Wearing too many clothes. Scoot over. You still need to rest, Hilda's orders."

 

"Is the Queen of Hell scared of my little sister?" Zelda jokingly inquired as they adjusted themselves, her back tightly against Lilith, the demoness' leg in between her own, right hand slowly gliding the length of Zelda's upper thigh.

 

"She's very scary when it comes to you, I'll give her that."

 

Zelda replied with a hum, eyes drooping closed, comforted by the warmth of the body behind her.

 

"Thank you, Lilith, for making me worthy."

 

"Don't be silly Zelda," She replied, kissing softly behind her ear, "You were already more than worthy."

 

Feeling bold, Zelda took the hand on her thigh and held it, fingers lacing together before resting on the sheets.

 

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" Zelda asked before closing her eyes, already falling into her slumber.

 

"I'll stay as long as you need." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but very much needed chapter! Lilith is soft for one witch, and her name is Zelda Spellman, jaja. I'm sure that Lilith will open up more to Zelda about her fear of losing her once she... unpacks all of those feelings she likes to ignore xD.
> 
> Since I won't be updating again until after Christmas, merry Christmas and of course happy holidays to those who don't celebrate or don't only celebrate Christmas! Hope you enjoy your time :)


	14. Blackwood

_"And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”_

_Matthew 19:24_

__________

 

When Zelda awoke, she still felt the warmth from Lilith's body against her. Sometime during the night, she had moved, head tucked up under her chin and soft snores invading the stillness in the room. Zelda nuzzled deeper into Lilith's neck, feeling the post-coitus sensation down her spine and in between her thighs. She kissed gently on the nearest spot of skin, drunk on Lilith's essence and in this moment.

 

The demoness stirred; her breathing irregular for a few moments before steadying out. Her hand releasing the red locks it was entangled in to rub the last dregs of sleep from tired eyes. Lilith glowed so beautifully in the light that shone from the window, skin covered in glittering gold, a lion's mane of wild, untameable hair, and precious pink lips, worried on the bottom. She was always so worried...

 

"Goodmorning," Zelda whispered, a tickle in the wind.

 

"Morning," The demoness replied, pushing a stray hair behind Zelda's ear, a sleepy smile gracing her face. "How was your sleep?" 

 

"Amazing," Zelda answered with a dopey smile. She hadn't slept that well in over a year having so many anxieties. Though she still had many things to concern herself over, being with Lilith gave her some security she had been searching for for a long time. Zelda was too afraid to ask what last night meant, she wanted to remain in this content space. No blurred lines, just mutual respect. 

 

"And you feel well? No more Hell sickness symptoms?" Before Lilith could bring her bottom lip between her teeth again, Zelda caught it with her thumb, smoothing over it to keep it from the harm her goddess would put to it. 

 

"You shouldn't worry so much, you'll end up with only a top lip." Lilith rolled her eyes affectionately. Taking Zelda's hand in her own and ghosting her lips over the top. "But I don't believe I am _hell sick_ anymore, I think finding your Athame healed me. When I touched it... I felt..." The younger witch couldn't find the words to describe what had happened in Hell. She was sure Avnas and Constance had summarized, but the way Lilith was looking at her, enticing the story from the source, it made her feel like she was being put on the spotlight. 

 

"I may have summoned hellfire, and I killed Caliban." Zelda set up suddenly, the room feeling hot like the Prince of Hell's basement when the events went down only three days ago. "Avnas said that it was probably a dormant trait because Sabrina could do it... but it didn't feel right." She felt Lilith move to sit up beside her, eyes determined to say something. She never got the chance, the phone rang beside them. 

 

"I should take that," Zelda stretched her arms towards the rotary on the bedside table, bringing it up to her ears in anticipation. She took notice of the time, 9 a.m., on the clock across the room. It was probably her sister asking her why she wasn't the academy yet. 

 

Imagine her surprise when she heard Ambrose on the phone. 

 

"Nephew? What's going on, you're at the church?" 

 

_"Auntie, we found him. He's with us at the church, we just brought him in."_

 

Zelda took a deep breath before replying. "And Judas?" 

 

" _Safe with Nicholas, Sabrina, and Leticia. Aunt Hilda's with Prudence and I now. We're keeping him under guard."_ She moved quickly to gather a change of clothes, annoyed by the phone chord that limited her movements. She bundled her ridiculously expensive clothes in her arms, not caring about the wrinkles that would occur from her mishandling.  

 

"I'll meet you at the church in thirty minutes. Don't engage with him just, stay safe Ambrose." 

 

" _Of course. Love you, Auntie Z."_

 

"Love you too Ambrose, I'll see you in thirty minutes." She didn't bother hanging up the phone, letting it fall to the floor from its cord before bending down to pick up a pair of shoes. 

 

"Zelda?"

 

"That was Ambrose, they found Blackwood. I- I have to go." 

 

"I'll go with you." Waves of relief rolled off of Zelda, she adjusted her clothes in her arms, brows relaxing even with the prospect of who she was about to confront for the first time in over a year. 

 

"Okay, great. Feel free to wear anything of mine, we seem to be around the same size. And the bathroom is around the corner to your left. If you need anything else..." 

 

"You'll be here." 

 

"Yes, I'll be here. I'll leave you to it." If Zelda was blushing, she definitely wasn't hiding it as she traveled down the hall to the other bathroom to get ready. It took all of two minutes to drop her clothes on the floor, letting the cold water from the showerhead run over her.  She felt mixed up in her fear and whatever else was there. All of it bubbling up just under the surface of her skin. The biting chill of the water kept her grounded for the moment, but she couldn't be in there forever. She told Ambrose thirty minutes, and as tempting as it was to stay in the shower forever, Zelda knew she had other responsibilities to take care of. 

 

She used magic to dry her hair and to apply makeup she couldn't take her time with. Slipping her clothes on, strapping up her heels over her ankles. In a weird way, it seemed as if she was getting ready for battle. Zelda mused on this as she brushed through the frizzy mess that was her hair in the mirror. Normally she would abhor the thought of walking out of the mortuary without perfect pin curls, but today there was something that led her to let it go. 

 

She took the steps by two's, almost running into Lilith at the bottom, looking more conservative in Zelda's high neck attire than in what she normally wore. 

 

"Are you ready to go?" Zelda held Lilith's hands in her own, leaning her head against her shoulder, ready to teleport to the academy. The demoness squeezed her hands gently, a sign of reassurance.

"Yes, I'm ready."

 

_________

 

They landed in the church, Ambrose ready to greet them and take them downstairs to where Blackwood was being held. The poor boy fell into Zelda's arms, trembling from his exhaustion. Zelda realized that the trauma Blackwood gave to her seeped into the entire Spellman family. Ambrose had almost died by his hand, had murdered because of his manipulation. It would be a relief for everyone when he was finally dead. 

 

"He's in the basement," Ambrose reminded them once again when he let Zelda go. "It's... Blackwood is officially out of his mind. He's been rambling, asking for you Aunt Z. I can go down there with you if you want me to." 

 

Ambrose looked like he wanted to do the opposite, but Zelda was still touched that he would offer to assist her. "It's alright Ambrose, why don't you join your cousins and Nicholas. Make sure that they are okay." 

 

"Of course, oh!" Seemingly just registering Lilith's presence, who was uncharacteristically quiet, he bowed his obeisance. 

 

"That's unnecessary Mr.Spellman, but thank you." An embarrassed flush spread across her face as Ambrose took his leave, and they began walking towards the basement where they would find Hilda and Prudence. 

 

"You really don't like being bowed to, do you?" Zelda asked when they stopped in front of the last door. Lilith played with the buttons around the high-neck of Zelda's dress she wore. 

 

"This whole "Queen of Hell" job is a learning curve, I suppose." She laughed slightly, insecurity peeking right over the top of the walls she kept up, even with her High Priestess. "I am not used to the praise or the bowing. It's unsettling." 

 

"But you deserve it, Lilith. You know that, right?" Her eyes flitted, so much she must've wanted to say but held back from fear. Zelda knew what she was afraid of, she just wished that Lilith wouldn't be so afraid with her. 

 

"I will try every day to deserve this, to earn it." The redhead placed her hands on either side of her goddess' face, fingers tangling lightly into raven hair. She watched doubt swim across ocean blue eyes, she hoped encouragement shown in hers. 

 

"You always do, Lilith." Zelda went to press her lips against the other woman's, rather boldly. Lilith didn't mind, leaning into the kiss as natural as anything else. They were only interrupted by Hilda stepping out from the now open doors, Prudence behind her. Both of them very apparently shocked at the display in front of them. 

 

"Um, sister? You can go in now if you please. We'll give you some privacy." Both women broke apart, blush evident on Zelda's pale skin. Lilith seemed unaffected, her gaze neutral, but her eyes were soft and it made Zelda's heart soar. 

 

"Yes, of course, thank you." 

 

"Do you want me to come with you?" Lilith laced her fingers with Zelda's, energy tensing between them for a second. It was obvious that Lilith was scared for her, but Zelda was determined to do this on her own. She took Lilith's hand in full, squeezing once in reassurance.

 

"You'll wait here for me, right?" 

 

"Yes, but if you need me... "

 

"I'll summon you, I promise," Zelda added seeing as Lilith looked unconvinced. Hesitantly, the demoness let go of Zelda's hand with a serious _be careful,_ and with some encouraging words from Hilda, she walked right through the doors. 

 

__________ 

 

Blackwood's face was beaten in, bruised excessively on its right side. He looked about as great as his personality, and something ugly reared itself in her stomach.  She wanted him dead, no questions and no interrogations. Zelda felt the tingling she associated with her summoning of hellfire arise in her, fingertips dancing in excited blue flames.

 

"You'll burn a half-dead man?" 

 

"I'm considering it." He coughed pitifully, blood clogging his airways until it pooled down his chin. "Who did this to you?"

 

"Who do you think, Zelda? Concerned all of a sudden?" Zelda scoffed at the question, fists clenching at her sides before releasing, flames dissipating as well.  It would do no good if she killed him from a lack of control. There were so many things she still needed to understand. 

 

"Where did you run off too? And why? Don't even think about lying to me, I have ways of finding the truth."

 

"Then why ask me in the first place if your little _spies_  can do their own research?"

 

"I'm giving you the chance to die less of a piece of shit, take my offer and make it easier for everyone, won't you?" 

 

Blackwood laughed, his throat bubbly with blood, maniacal like Ambrose had warned her of. 

 

"There is nothing I can tell you of the old world. All of it is a mess, it's in shambles just like Greendale. When I ran, I was running away from the Dark Lord and his plans. I don't trust him like you don't trust him. Like you shouldn't trust _her_." He paused to look at Zelda, really look at her. It was the only point in this conversation where he looked all the way there, it left her feeling unsettled and exposed. 

 

"We've known each other for a long time, haven't we Zelda?" 

 

"You don't know me, and I never really knew you either. Not until the end anyway." 

 

"We've both changed a great deal. At any rate, I never took you for an idiot. Know this Spellman, before you kill me, know that this isn't your war. Let the demons fight amongst themselves and get out of here while you can. Try not to get caught as I did." 

 

"I can't abandon my coven like you did. I'm their High Priestess, and they are my family. I spent over a year picking up the pieces you left behind, I won't give that up." 

 

"Hmm, good luck then." He settled back against the stone wall, the conversation was obviously over. Zelda turned to walk back out, frustrated with the lack of information and annoyed with his warning. They were in a war, no _shit_ was it dangerous. She had no choice but to fight in it, despite what he deluded himself to believe. 

 

"And Zelda," Said woman turned back, hand gripping the doorknob tightly. "I'm sorry." 

 

"I know, but that's not good enough." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya'll! So I am writing a novella to this story to get different P.O.V.s and some background information! I'm not sure when the first chapter of that will be out, I just started writing it so it will be up at some point within the next two weeks! I'll definitely let you know when it is published. Also, I was wondering if you wanted this story to be super long (definitely over 50 chapters) or if you want me to split it into two different books like part one and part two? I'm leaning towards splitting it up depending on the direction I choose to take it, but your votes definitely help! Hope you enjoy! I'll try and get at least two more chapters in before I go back to school cause God knows I get inconsistent with all of my classes lmao


	15. A Past to Revisit, A Present to Unfold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's short but so is Zelda's (and my) patience for Sabrina in p.3 so enjoy :))))

_As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters"_

_-Song of Solomon 2:2_

____________

Zelda felt relief once she stepped out of the makeshift cell of the Church's basement. Hilda, Prudence, and Lilith all stood around on the outside of the door. Prudence asking her questions and Lilith sheepishly answering them, not that Prudence was purposefully being intimidating, but Lilith was shy and closed off, not used to others being interested in her story. She would have to fix that.

 

"Sister, you're back!" An always cheery Hilda brought her presence to the attention of the other two women.

 

"Did you get any good information out of him?" Prudence asked directly. Zelda shook her head no.

 

"Not anything that I hadn't already figured out myself."

 

"And the trials, when will they be happening?"

 

"Soon, Prudence. Things are speeding up and I'd much rather have him out of the way. But there is, unfortunately, decorum to follow. And since meeting with one of the members of the unholy council, I recognize how imperative it is to follow protocol, no matter how annoying it can be."

 

"Should the council members matter? We don't follow them anymore. Aren't you the queen of Hell?" Zelda and Hilda flinched at the tone of disrespect Prudence had given towards Lilith, used to instant punishment by their last ruler, not anticipating the unbothered reaction that followed.

 

"Of course I am, but _you_ have to understand that there are forces bigger than myself and Lucifer. Even Hell has its limits, and coups take time. But you will have the revenge you so desperately seek. If you could exercise some patience." The girl didn't seem happy about the prospect of being patient, but she bit her tongue anyway, which Zelda was grateful for. Though Lilith had been extremely understanding and careful about how she interacted with her coven, she wasn't sure where the limits began and ended and did not want to test them.

 

"Fine," Prudence answered dejectedly before changing the subject. "My sisters have returned from their quests in getting other Churchs' support, they've been successful. They wanted me to inform you that those who are interested will be showing up by tonight. Would you like us to prepare rooms for them?"

 

"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you. Hilda, will you help?"

 

"Of course, come along Prudence, much to do before we greet our guests!" The two women left right away, leaving Lilith and Zelda alone in front of the double doors. Zelda's eyes wandered towards the demoness who was watching after the parting party, hands clasped in front of herself. Boldly, the younger witch reached out to the other woman.

 

"We have some time to kill, want to go to the gardens? If you don't have to return to Hell?" Lilith returned a small but genuine smile and held onto Zelda's hand with her own.

 

"They can survive without me for a few more hours. Besides, I sense you have more questions for me."

 

__________

 

Zelda had shown Lilith much of Hilda's garden project around the Church. Her younger sister thought it was a fitting addition to the Church, as that was how Lilith appeared to Zelda, and how the beginnings of this new order started. Lilith appreciated the newness of the place, with spring only just beginning. Time had gone by so fast, she barely noticed when spring had hit again. What she perceived as four days in Hell had been an entire two weeks in the mortal world, but time had been skewed in Zelda's mind long before then.

 

The two women had settled on one of the many hammocks Hilda had also insisted on getting. Zelda was resigned to let Lilith have her own, not wanting to push the boundaries of their friendship despite the fact that those boundaries were ignored in their entirety the night before. 

 

Lilith told her she was being ridiculous, patting the spot on the hammock beside her, not understanding Zelda's apprehension. Lilith promptly shifted until her head rested on a surprised Zelda's lap, eyes closed in complete trust of the other woman. She knew she was experiencing a deeper, non-sexual, intimacy than before when they were in the clearing. There was a warmth that spread across the soft plane of her face.

 

She hoped she wouldn't accidentally set anything on fire.

 

"Ask what you wish to know." Hesitantly, she brushed her hands through dark swirls of hair, and the demoness' eyes fluttered contently at the sensation, so she kept going, finding a reasonable rhythm with her ministrations.

 

"There are so many things I want to know about you. You've lived... _lifetimes_. I want to know your story. The unabridged version."

 

"The truth, you mean?" Zelda didn't answer, giving Lilith the time to decide whether or not she was ready to share. " I'm not even sure how to go about answering that." She took Zelda's other hand that had been resting on her sternum before, lacing fingers together, searching for some comfort. Her blue eyes opened, and Zelda saw sadness and curiosity stirring in them. They looked right past the redhead as if searching for distorted memories. She swallowed roughly, closing her eyes again.

 

"When you've lived as long as I have, everyone has an opinion. Sometimes I can't begin to tell the difference between the truth and what everyone says. My life is split into millions of others, and I've adapted, but I've never been the same person twice."

 

"You had to change in order to survive, no one can fault you for that." Lilith laughed.

 

"Yes they can, and they do. Even you rightfully faulted me for my actions against your family when I was still under the service of Lucifer. Though slavery seems to be a better term."

 

"How did that begin? You were surviving well on your own..."

 

"I wasn't." She quickly answered, but her brows scrunched in regret. She turned herself so her face was away from Zelda, the witch's hand still brushing through her hair in quiet comfort. It was a few minutes before she continued.

 

"I was surviving, but not well. I had only known the beauty of the garden, the company of Adam and God, and the comfortable solitude I could find beneath the tree we couldn't eat the fruit of. I never did, I never wanted to."

 

"To eat the fruit?"

 

"To leave. I never wanted to leave. It was my home, and life was kinder. Until it wasn't anymore. Until Adam changed, and God changed."

 

"How did the false god change?"

 

"Right, the _false_ god, sorry." She took a deep breath. "I was too inquisitive and... I loved my solitude in the garden. Too powerful, more powerful than Adam definitely. In His eyes, I was a mistake. Because I knew that I didn't need man to be happy in the paradise I was in. I didn't want Adam to touch me, I hated it whenever he tried. He was always very careful about not pushing too much, but the false god was becoming impatient, and Adam was becoming restless. So I left."

 

Zelda's eyes watered, sensing where the story was headed, all too familiar with the tragedy of her womanhood.

 

"You left before anything happened?" The High Priestess prayerfully asked. And Lilith answered, tears barely registered in her voice like the ghost she just now had the chance to face and process.

 

"No, I left because something _did_ happen. And I was furious and violated, and I haven't really felt different since. I hated it when Lucifer touched me too, he wasn't ever near as hesitant as Adam." They fell in silence, tears steadily falling from Zelda's face. 

 

"I put up with it at first because I wanted the power that he offered me. Then eventually I put up with it because I really had no other choice."

 

"You have so much choice now, Lilith. So much, I promise." Lilith carefully wiped away her tears, turning back to Zelda with a watery smile. It made Zelda feel warm, happier in spite of the story she had just heard. 

 

"I have a question for you now," She replied. Zelda wiped a stray tear from her face she hadn't yet caught, caressing the sadness from the high point of her cheek.

 

"Go on," Zelda suggested softly.

 

"What made you choose to be my High Priestess?" Her blue eyes twinkled, a genuine curiosity spreading across her features. Zelda thought it was adorable and innocent. There was so much humanity in Lilith that was masked by millennia of pain, and she wanted to pull every ounce of untouched beauty she could. She wanted to show her all of the _newness_ that she had experienced with the other woman by her side.

 

"An instinct," she answered shyly, "and a very deep admiration."

 

"A very deep admiration you say?" Zelda happily let the conversation redirect itself. Though she readily accepted all that was being offered, it hurt more than anticipated to witness the reliving of events in Lilith's mind. And there was so much road left untraveled in that long life of hers.

 

"Yes," She answered, Lilith's smile growing bigger by the second. Zelda felt as if she was getting made fun of, but she didn't care. Anything to keep her smiling. "I've always been attracted to beautiful things, and you are beautiful without compromise." 

 

Lilith sat up, hand coming to brush the wet path of what were tears from her face. Her eyes were bright, bluer than lapiz or the larkspur that grew only a few feet away from them. 

 

"And you, Zelda Spellman, are more beautiful than Eden ever was." The kiss that followed was soft, Lilith's lips parting and inviting Zelda to warmth. She barely registered her back touching the weft of the hammock, but she definitely noticed the journey of Lilith's hand down her side. 

 

She pulled away too soon, a chuckle escaping rouge tinted lips. 

 

"Zelda, you're burning the hammock." She surely was. The hand that fell above her head dissipated the faded blue sparks at her realization. The poor section of the hammock wilted under her touch. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment. "That didn't happen last night." Lilith's suggestive brow raise was not helping the situation.

 

"Okay, enough!" 

 

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm beautiful without compromise, remember? You can't help but be overwhelmingly attracted to me." Zelda was not amused, but Lilith was quick to kiss her pout away, offering her hand once she stepped off of the hammock. 

 

"C'mon, sweet Zelda. We should get back before our guests arrive. We have a war to get them up-to-date on." 

 

Flushed red and hair mused, Zelda ceded to Lilith's offer and let herself be taken back up the path to the Church. She pocketed their conversation, floating somewhere between air and real life, and desperately wishing the moment had lasted a little longer. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In all honesty, I'm already disappointed for part three. Like, I could care less whether or not Madam Spellman happens in canon. I even kinda like the idea of Mambo Spellman because I love Sky and I think if the storyline is written well it will be nice to have some wlw representation (and an interracial representation to boot!) But damn can Roberto stop using Lilith's pain to push a storyline as if she isn't already one of the most abused womxn on the show? Can she have some friends?? Can we let middle-aged womxn have actual power and not hand it over to the (always white!) 17-year-old protagonist? Like I'm barely 20 years old, but for teenagers and young adult womxn, there needs to be some representation of how powerful we can be twenty/thirty years from now!!
> 
> (and yes I'm well aware that white womxn are allowed to be represented on screen but bruh, as an afro-indigenous woman with Scotts-Irish heritage, I can assure you that only seeing that Scotts-Irish heritage represented does nothing for me whatsoever!! We need a spin-off with Prudence... I'd watch the mess out of that!!) 
> 
> Plus, the hell does Zelda Spellman look like worshipping her niece lmaooo.


End file.
